Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – March 27, 2024 – The Arkansas Court of Appeals confirmed the conviction of a Craighead County man last month on a revocation of probation, but court documents filed on Tuesday show that the Craighead County Circuit Court has been ordered to resentence him.
Tony Joe Stevens, 39, was originally convicted in August 2017 of sexually grooming of a child and sexual indecency with a child. Stevens was accused of showing pornographic cartoons to a young girl at a motel in Jonesboro.
He was sentenced to a total of seven years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections and a total of 10 years of suspended imposition of sentence.
In August 2022, prosecutors filed charges against Stevens, alleging he had violated the terms of his suspended imposition of sentence by possessing a controlled substance, possessing drug paraphernalia and failure to register as a sex offender.
Stevens was sentenced to a total of 20 years in prison and 14 years of suspended imposition of sentence.
While the appeals court upheld the conviction, it ruled the sentencing was incorrect, saying the maximum Stevens could be sentenced to was 17 years in prison.
Stevens will be resentenced in Craighead County Circuit Court.