By JIM BUTLER
It’s not exactly what federal authorities meant when ordering vocational training as part of Jamir Baxter’s prison stay.
Baxter, 22, now of Pineville, was booked Monday afternoon in the parish lockup for allegedly operating a clandestine laboratory, criminal conspiracy and illegal carrying a firearm with drugs.
The arrest is his third this month.
On Aug. 4 he was charged with possession of CDS I first 14 marijuana, tetracycline or derivatives, violation of protective order, improper window tint and improper license plate display. Booked about 6 p.m., he posted $2,200 bond and was released at 10:45.
Baxter was back in familiar territory on Aug. 18, booked for alleged possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. He posted $25,000 bond 13 hours later.
Baxter, once a promising athlete at Northwood High (class of 2019), first appears in Rapides jail records on Jan. 9, 2019, charged with three counts of contributing to delinquency of a minor, carnal knowledge and criminal trespass. He posted bond.
On April 22 he was back in the lockup, charged with domestic abuse battery. He posted another $2,000 bond.
Less than a month later, May 16, he was again charged with carnal knowledge and contributing as well as possession of marijuana 1st 14, criminal damage and burglary. He posted $5,800 bond.
Baxter surfaced three months later, committing felony gun thefts in Dothan, AL., first on Aug. 6 alone, then on Sept. 6 with two others.
By then authorities were on to him. He fled, with an all-points bulletin issued for his arrest, which came Oct. 8 when Jackson County, AL officers stopped his gold BMW.
He was returned to Dothan and put in the Houston County Jail, challenging its conditions in a writ of habeus corpus filed, and soon dismissed, in December.
According to the federal indictment, on August 6, 2019, Baxter burglarized Performance Machine Works in Dothan, and stole five firearms, including a Glock, model 27, .40 caliber pistol; a Glock, model 20, 10mm pistol; a Glock, model 48, 9mm pistol; an FN, model 509T, 9mmm pistol; and, a Remington, model 1911 R1, .45 caliber pistol. Then, on September 6, he and two others conspired to burglarize The Outpost, a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) in Dothan, in order to steal guns. They entered the building by using hand tools to remove material and breach the business’ back wall to avoid setting off the alarm.
Nine firearms were taken, including a BCM, model BCM4, 5.56 mm rifle; a Caracal, model F, 9mm pistol; an I.O. Inc., model BSR-74, 5.45mm rifle; a Kel-Tec, model P11, 9mm pistol; a Romarm/Cugir, model WASR-10, 7.62mm rifle; a Romarm/Cugir, model WASR-10UF, 7.62mm rifle; a Taurus, model 24/7 G2, 9mm pistol; and, two (2) Taurus, model G2C, 9mm pistols.
The three were indicted for unlawfully taking firearms from a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) and conspiracy to steal from an FFL in connection with the September 6, 2019 burglary. Baxter was indicted on an additional charge of stealing from an FFL for the August 6 gun thefts. All three pleaded guilty to the charges contained in the indictment.
Baxter was sentenced in June 2021 to three years in prison and thee years supervised release.
He reported to Pollock Federal Correction Institution on July 13. His sentence order included intensive drug treatment, mental health counseling and vocational training.