A Batesville man already facing felony robbery charges is now accused of selling methamphetamine to a police informant on three separate occasions, court records filed Monday show.
Hugh James Stiles, 51, was charged Monday in Independence County Circuit Court with two counts of delivery of a controlled substance — methamphetamine greater than two grams but less than 10 grams — and one count of delivery of methamphetamine less than two grams. All three charges are felonies. Because Stiles has more than one but fewer than four prior felony convictions, prosecutors are charging him as a habitual offender.
According to an affidavit filed by 16th Judicial District Drug Task Force Special Agent Zach Bailey, agents conducted three controlled drug purchases from Stiles using a confidential informant — two in 2025 and one in 2026.
In each instance, agents searched the informant and the informant’s vehicle before the operation, finding no drugs or contraband. The informant was then given task force buy money and an audio/video recording device before being followed to a meeting location, where agents observed the informant and Stiles make the exchange.
Evidence recovered after each purchase — clear plastic baggies containing a crystalline substance — tested positive for methamphetamine using a field test kit, according to the affidavit. Bailey noted agents positively identified Stiles in each buy video. All evidence is being sent to the Arkansas State Crime Lab for further analysis.
Stiles’s bond on the new charges was set at $10,000.
The new charges compound serious legal troubles already facing Stiles. On March 11, he was arrested in connection with a March 3 attack at Bayou Park in which authorities say he and 23-year-old Jordan Lenn Robbins lured a former co-worker into an ambush and robbed him of his phone and glasses, motivated by the knowledge that the victim had just received a paycheck. Stiles is held on a $50,000 bond in that case, where he also faces a habitual offender designation.
Hugh James Stiles
Image: Independence County Sheriff’s Office
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