Press release
Zackary Ryan Clemons, age 39, was sentenced to 25 years in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on March 1, 2018, for Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Deliver. Clemons was found guilty by a Henderson County jury following four days of testimony.
Clemons was arrested by Henderson County Sheriff’s Deputy Megan Hogan on June 27, 2017. Clemons had just left a known drug house in the Westwood Beach Subdivision in Chandler when Deputy Hogan observed Clemons’ SUV run a stop sign. Deputy Hogan initiated her overhead lights to conduct a traffic stop. Clemons continued driving, dropping a bag of methamphetamine outside his car window, before eventually stopping for the deputy.
During the stop, Deputy Hogan learned that Clemons did not have a valid driver’s license or insurance and had open warrants out of Smith County and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. Clemons was on parole for a 2013 Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Deliver case out of Smith County.
After arresting Clemons on his warrants, Deputy Hogan located a methamphetamine pipe in his vehicle. Sheriff’s Deputy Cynthia Clements found the bag tossed from Clemons’ car on the roadway less than 45 yards from his vehicle. The bag contained nearly 17 grams of methamphetamine. A female passenger cooperated with law enforcement on scene.
In the trial that began on Monday, February 26, Assistant District Attorneys Jessica Bargmann and Daniel Cox presented evidence and testimony from Deputies Hogan and Clements, as well as law enforcement officers from the Texas Department of Public Safety, Henderson County District Attorney’s Office, and the Henderson County Jail.
During trial, the jury heard evidence that Clemons sent numerous messages to his passenger instructing her not to appear in court or “remember” what happened that day. Clemons asked a friend to relay the message, claiming his freedom depended on the witness’s silence. Investigators were unable to locate the witness for trial.
In her closing argument, Assistant District Attorney Bargmann told the jury that Clemons did not want the witness coming to court “because Clemons doesn’t want you knowing the truth. If she came to court and told you what she remembers, he’d be toast. If she’s not here, he can pin the drugs on her.”
After an hour of deliberations, the jury found Clemons guilty. Following the verdict, Clemons agreed to serve 25 years confinement in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. Judge R. Scott McKee of the 392nd District Court pronounced sentence on March 1, 2018. The time will be served consecutive to his sentence in Smith County which means that it will not begin to run until his prior sentence has “ceased to operate”, according to the Texas Code of Criminal Procedure.