A man charged with fleeing from authorities, throwing more than 700 grams of methamphetamine into the woods after abandoning his vehicle, and leaving behind 44 ounces of marijuana in his SUV, was found guilty as charged Wednesday evening.
State Attorney Larry Basford said Elvis Mark Hartrick, 49, of Fountain, was sentenced to a total of 40 years in prison by Circuit Court Judge Dustin Stephenson following the verdict.
Hartrick was sentenced to 25 years for Trafficking in Methamphetamine (200 or more grams), and 5 years each for Fleeing or Attempting to Elude Law Enforcement, Possession of a Controlled Substance, and Possession of More than 20 grams of Marijuana. Judge Stephenson ordered the sentences to be served consecutively, or one after the other. The defendant received time served for tampering.
“This defendant possessed a large amount of methamphetamine (750 grams) and has a lengthy criminal history involving drugs that includes three prior prison sentences,” Prosecutor Ryan Phillips said. “His actions in this case show that is not going to change, that he was continuing to endanger the community, and he is going where he needs to be for a long time.”
Phillips called 7 witnesses – 6 of them Bay County Sheriff’s Office deputies involved in the case – and presented evidence that led to the jury returning its verdicts in about 30 minutes.
The testimony and evidence showed the Bay County Sheriff’s Office’s Special Investigations Division was conducting an operation on the defendant, who was wanted on Federal warrants.
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While conducting surveillance and with a Sheriff’s Office helicopter in the air, an investigator in an unmarked vehicle with emergency lights and siren attempted to stop the defendant for speeding on County 2301. The defendant sped off and other unmarked vehicles joined the chase across dirt roads, down a trail that led back to the highway and ultimately through a yard and behind a dwelling at the dead-end of Gainer Road.
Video from the Sheriff’s Office’s Air One, equipped with special heat-seeking cameras, showed the defendant run into the woods and throw a bag off to the side before running deeper into the woods. The helicopter was able to keep track of the defendant until deputies on the ground could get to him.
The thrown bag had about 750 grams of methamphetamine in it. Inside the defendant’s vehicle deputies found about 934 grams of marijuana and 1-4 Butanediol, used to make GHB – commonly referred to as “Georgia Home Boy” or “Scoop.”
Basford thanked the Sheriff’s Office for its proactive approach in keeping that amount of drugs off the street. He also noted the importance of the video provided by Air One.
For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.