On Thursday, October 24, 2024, Judge Evan Stubbs sentenced Jonathan Tarbet to thirty-eight (38) years in prison for the first-degree felony offense of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver. The range of punishment for that offense is from 5 to 99 years in prison.
Tarbet was stopped by Llano County Sheriff’s deputies for a traffic violation in Kingsland, Texas on August 10, 2022, and was found to be in possession of more than 13 grams of methamphetamine. He pleaded guilty on October 5, 2023, confessing that he had possessed the methamphetamine with the intent to distribute it to others.
The State entered into an agreement for the court to defer finding Tarbet guilty and instead place him on community supervision for a term of ten years. After only three months, the State filed a motion to revoke Tarbet’s probation, alleging that he had violated the conditions of his probation
At a hearing before Judge Evan Stubbs on October 24, 2024, Assistant District Attorney Kelly Bazie presented evidence showing that Tarbet had continued to test positive for methamphetamine and had failed to report to his probation officer as required by the court. Bazie requested that the court revoke Tarbet’s probation, adjudicate him guilty, and sentence him to prison. When a judge revokes a defendant’s deferred adjudication probation, the judge can sentence the defendant to any term of confinement within the range of punishment for the charged offense. At the conclusion of the hearing, Judge Stubbs sentenced Tarbet to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice for a term of 38 years.
District Attorney Sonny McAfee praised the result, saying, “This defendant was given a chance to show us that he could be trusted in our community, but he threw that chance away and the Judge sentenced him accordingly. We’re grateful to the Llano County Sheriff’s office for continuing to work to get methamphetamine off our streets.”