By John Balch
News-Leader staff
A Pike County jury took only minutes to decide the fate of a Texas man involved in a 2021 burglary of a Glenwood pharmacy.
Keith Jackson, 38, of Diana, Texas, was sentenced to a total of 135 years in the Arkansas Department of Correction and fined $45,500.
The jury – made of three men and nine women – heard the case against Jackson Thursday, Oct. 20 in front of Circuit Judge Tom Cooper.
The jurors began deliberations at 3 p.m. and returned at 3:20 with a guilty verdict on all five counts against Jackson, which included possession of a controlled substance that is not methamphetamine or cocaine with purpose to deliver; commercial burglary; theft of property; first-degree criminal mischief; and misdemeanor possession of an instrument of crime.
Jackson was also charged as a habitual offender.
Jackson and his co-defendant, Katlin Godfrey, 36, of Gilmer, Texas, were arrested Oct. 30, 2021, after an alarm company reported it was tracking a GPS alert inside a bottle of pain medication from Phil’s Pharmacy.
The device pointed to the tree line behind the nearby Sonic. When a Glenwood police officer arrived at the location, he found a van containing items from the pharmacy and the two individuals.
Godfrey was taken into custody without incident.
Jackson reportedly fled on foot and was later apprehended at the Glenwood Country Club parking lot after he approached a home and asked to use the telephone.
The home owner provided officials with a list of numbers Jackson dialed and his mother identified him and said the van belonged to her. The vehicle was towed and impounded as evidence.
The two apparently gained entry to the pharmacy by cutting two large holes in the building’s northern wall.
One hole led to an area where computers and the camera system are stored and the other led to the area where the pain medication was stored.
Godfrey, who has pleaded innocent, is currently awaiting a trial date on the same charges as Jackson.
