Officials with the U.S. Department of Justice, Western District, Springfield, have announced the sentencing of an Arkansas resident who was found in October 2020 with a large amount of methamphetamine and cash, plus a firearm, at the Twin Bridges Campground in Douglas County.
Marcelino Sauseda, Jr., 44, was sentenced Tuesday to 13 years and four months in federal prison without parole and ordered to forfeit $24,830 in drug trafficking proceeds that had been seized by law enforcement. Sauseda pleaded guilty on Sept. 13, 2022, to one count each of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Steven R. Bough.
Sauseda admitted he was in possession of a loaded Rossi firearm and meth at the time of his arrest.
On Oct. 10, 2020, a corporal with the Douglas County Sheriff’s Department was notified that Sauseda, a fugitive with Arkansas warrants for his arrest, was staying at the Twin Bridges Campground. Officers found Sauseda at a cabin in the campground and placed him under arrest. Law enforcement found a black zip-up bag which contained 196 grams of methamphetamine next to the back porch of the cabin, and a bag under the back porch with $24,820 in cash, which Sauseda admitted were the proceeds of illegal drug sales. Officers also found a loaded Rossi firearm in an air vent.
Federal officials reported Sauseda had absconded from parole in Arkansas at the time of the federal offense, after being incarcerated for robbery, residential burglary and theft of property related to robbing another person at gun point with an SKS rifle. Sauseda also has a prior felony conviction for possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Carney. It was investigated by the Howell and Douglas County Sheriff’s Departments, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Arkansas court records show Sauseda has a felony case that is still unresolved in Jackson County, filed March 31, 2020, after he allegedly assaulted a girlfriend at their home in Newport, Ark., by punching her in the head, choking her after she had been knocked down, and stomping her foot while he was wearing work boots. The victim reported she couldn't breathe while she was being choked and thought she was going to die.
In an affidavit filed by Newport Police Detective Mark Harmon, who investigated the alleged assault, it was noted Sauseda was convicted of five felonies in May 2005 in Independence County, Ark., including possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, possession of drug paraphernalia, robbery, burglary and theft.
The charge filed was aggravated assault on a family member or household member, a class D felony. Court records show the case is still open but no public updates to the case have been made since the day it was filed.
