How Do You Get A Criminal Charge Dismissed In Lonoke County ?….Maybe Payoff The Deputy Who Arrested You ?

In early January of this year, Jacob Imus contacted me about a Domestic Violence incident involving him and his wife, Lacy Imus.

(CORRECTION – A third party contacted me about the issue, and I then contacted Jacob. He did not contact me.)

That incident turned into something straight out of a Netflix series….You gotta hear this.

On the morning of August 11^th, 2024, then Lonoke County Deputy Logan Hamilton, (pictured), responded to a Domestic Violence call, just outside of Cabot, at Jacob and Lacy’s home. He was assisted by Lonoke County Sgt. Thomas Scruggs.

After seeing and photographing very visible injuries on Jacob’s arm, 24-year-old Deputy Hamilton placed Lacy under arrest.

Body camera footage shows that after placing Lacy in the back seat of his Patrol vehicle, Hamilton got into the driver’s seat and began having a conversation with Lacy. Within seconds the Body Camera goes blank. Policy states the camera will remain on during all interaction.

You can view the Hamilton and Scruggs Body Camera videos here –

https://youtu.be/SWAQR2yfPb4?si=OreXlt5RderDJGBq

https://youtu.be/7fmW7uXlu-Q?si=v_FD2sssMkGEYgJj

Why is this important ?….Hang in here, I’ll explain later.

He then transported her to the Lonoke County Jail where the 41-year-old was booked in at 12:34pm on charges of 3^rd Degree Battery and 3^rd Degree Endangering The Welfare Of A Minor.

Lacy bonded out at 1:31pm that same day after a “No Contact Order” was issued to her….Remember that release time because it is important.

While she was out on Bond and awaiting trial, Jacob retained full custody of their one-year-old child. On September 9^th after nine years of marriage, Lacy filed for Divorce in Lonoke County Circuit Court.

Pretty vanilla so far right ?….Well hang on.

Lonoke County Deputy Prosecutor Samantha Kassen was handling the prosecution in the case with a Trial date of November 20^th 2024.

On the morning of the 20^th Jacob headed to Court where he was expecting Lacy to stand trial.

On the way there he got a text from Lacy telling him….You ready for this ?….That the day before on the 19^th,  Kassen drafted an Order that District Judge Clint McGue signed dismissing the charges against Lacy at the request of Kassen.

He was literally on his way to a trial as the victim of charges that had been dismissed, unbeknownst to him, the day before.

Jacob says he was completely blindsided and stunned by Lacy’s text.

According to Jacob, Kassen had never given any indication of the possibility of the charges being dismissed and certainly never asked for his input before doing so.

Jacob still went to the Court and waited to speak with Kassen who never showed up.

He says he then began calling Kassen and leaving messages which were never returned and has phone records to prove that.

In mid-December Jacob discovered cell phone records that show Lacy had been engaged in phone calls with Hamilton beginning one hour after she was released on Bond….Yep you heard that right.

Remember earlier in the article when I said to remember her release time of 1:31pm from Jail….Here’s why.

Lacy’s cell phone records show that Hamilton called her at 2:29pm after she was released and the call lasted 4 minutes. Twenty minutes later Lacy called Hamilton with the call lasting 5 minutes.

At this point you really have to wonder what the conversation Hamilton and Lacy had on the way to the jail consisted of ?….We would know that had Hamilton not violated policy and turned his Body Camera off….Did we have a little game of “Let’s Make A Deal” on the way to the jail ???

Can you see the picture emerging ?

Stay with me because by the end of the article it will be in HD.

Lacy’s cell phone records also show that she and Hamilton had multiple conversations on the dates of September 6^th, 11^th and 15^th, all before the trial date.

Now besides Jacob and Lacy having a one-year old child together, Lacy had two daughters before she married Jacob who are his stepdaughters.

One is still a minor and the other, Emma, is an adult.

Jacob provided me with a written statement that he says Emma typed up for him which details the events on November 20^th, (the trial date), from her standpoint.

It states that –

“The morning of the day the charges got dropped I went over to where my mom is staying, when I got there she had told me court got cancelled because the charges should be dropped that afternoon.”

It goes on to further state –

“I was under the impression by her words that she knew this by talking to Logan Hamilton, who told her that he had talked to the prosecutor stating how he never wanted to arrest my mother the day he did, which was August 11th. He was stating how good of a person she was, and how he saw my mom was just a very good and fit mother in the wrong relationship.”

Here is the full statement.

The picture is really coming into focus now.

On Friday December 6^th a protection order was issued against Lacy to keep her away from Jacob and their one-year-old child.

That apparently sparked two calls from Hamilton to Lacy on December 10^th with a call from Lacy to Hamilton on December 11^th and a call from Hamilton to Lacy on the 12^{th .}

Could the purpose of those calls been for Hamilton to run interference for Lacy to avoid being served the Protection Order ?

The picture is pretty clear now but not quite HD yet.

Right after December 11^th is when Jacob said he started checking Lacy’s cell phone records and discovered Lacy and Hamilton had been talking since the day she was arrested and released.

He says he then informed the LCSO about the phone records and on December 17^th the Protection Order was finally served by going through Lacy’s attorney.

Hamilton must have felt the walls closing in as Lacy’s cell phone records show that on December 19^th there was an early morning flurry of calls between the two.

At 6:05am that morning Lacy missed a call from Hamilton. At 6:10am she returned the call which lasted 3 minutes. At 6:13am she called Hamilton again and the call lasted 8 minutes.

Later that morning Hamilton presented Sheriff John Staley with his immediate, two sentence, letter of Resignation.

On that same day, the 19^th, Jacob checked their bank account where he discovered Lacy had Cash App’d Hamilton $510.00 after their phone conversations.

Yeah….We are definitely in High Definition now.

Jacob emailed Lt. Giacomo Portale at the LCSO, that same day, letting him know about the money yet did not get a response.

On January 6^th I got fully involved and sent a Freedom of Information request at 4pm to Sheriff Staley for personnel records pertaining to Hamilton.

All of a sudden the very next morning at 7:08am Lt. Portale emailed Jacob wanting to set up a time to get a statement from him on the matter….Oh now that I am involved Sheriff Staley is suddenly interested….In covering his own ass right ?

Jacob and Emma met with Lt. Portale on January 14^th and gave their statements. Jacob said Lt. Portale said there was really nothing they could do and to “Go beat on the door of the Prosecutor.”

Jacob says he did just that and spoke with Kassen who informed him the “case was closed” and there was nothing they could do. He has not heard from her since nor her boss Prosecutor Chuck Graham.

There is something Graham could do that would take five minutes. He could email Major Stacey Rhoads at the Arkansas State Police and ask her to investigate Hamilton and Lacy for violations of Criminal law and you know what ?….I have no doubt Rhoads would agree to do so.

Problem with that is it would make Graham and Kassen look like the fools they are for Dismissing the charges against Lacy.

So many questions remain unanswered in this case.

Are there Text messages between Lacy and Hamilton ? (Jacob could not access those records)

Did Lacy make other payments to Hamilton ?

Were there sexual favors in return for Hamilton’s help ?

Has Hamilton engaged in this behavior before with other people he has arrested ?

Now you would think that Jacob would be vindictive and vengeful against Lacy and Hamilton right ?….He’s not at all.

As for Hamilton, Jacob would like to see that he can never hold a position in Law Enforcement again so that he cannot do this to anyone else.

As for Lacy, the only concern he has expressed to me is for her mental health. He feels she is suffering from Postpartum Depression after giving birth to their one-year-old child and she has turned into a totally different person than before she had the Baby.

He states his biggest hope and prayer is that Lacy gets the help that she desperately needs.

I called Hamilton in an effort to interview him. As soon as I told him who I am, he hung up….Maybe I should had led with “I’ll pay you $500.00”.

I also called Lacy with no answer and texted her twice with no response….Imagine that.

Jacob has agreed to join me on a Podcast to talk with me about this nightmare he and his family are going through. We are working on a near future date.

One thing is certain and that is Jacob has been screwed.

By Lacy….by Hamilton….by Sheriff Staley….by Deputy Prosecutor Samantha Kassen….and by Prosecutor Chuck Graham.

Will there ever be accountability though ?

#FactsNotFiction

moc.oohayobfsctd-48f9cb@nivac.eimmij

Jimmie Cavin

Professional Bully Fighter I investigate and report on issues around the State of Arkansas with an emphasis on Government. I am strong conservative however I bring Truth and Facts regardless of Party affiliation….My hashtag is #FactsNotFiction