ARKANSAS ARRESTS ALASKANS

Marijuana: Troopers Catch Soldotna Pair With Half A Ton Of Pot.

An Alaska father and son were in jail in Arkansas on Monday, accused of
driving a rented truck with more than 1,100 pounds of marijuana bound for
Tennessee, authorities said.

Tommy Joe Yeoman, 55, and Jason Earl Yeoman, 22, of Soldotna were arrested
Saturday on an interstate highway in North Little Rock after being stopped
initially for a traffic infraction, Arkansas troopers said.

A "nervous" look on Tommy Yeoman's face aroused the suspicion of a trooper,
who then asked to look inside the truck and found a couple dozen boxes and
bags of pot, according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court
in Arkansas.

Each man was charged with having and intending to distribute about 1,162
pounds of marijuana, said U.S. attorney Michael Johnson in Arkansas.

State and federal drug enforcement authorities are looking into connections
that the Yeomans might have in several other states, said Bill Sadler, a
spokesman for the Arkansas troopers. He would not say whether that includes
Alaska.

Tommy Yeoman and his son are from Soldotna, the court papers say.
Computerized public records show that Tommy Yeoman last received a
Permanent Fund dividend in 1999. Jason Yeoman got one last year.

Both men are often in Oregon but still get their mail in Soldotna, said
Evelyn Yeoman, Tommy Yeoman's estranged wife and Jason's mother. She and
her husband separated almost five years ago, she said.

Evelyn Yeoman had not known of the arrests until Monday evening and was
shocked to hear of them. "Oh, my God," she said. "Oh, mercy. And here I
thought they were in Oregon."

Tommy Yeoman was behind the wheel of a Ryder rental truck Saturday as the
men headed east on Interstate 40, according to the complaint. A state
trooper pulled Yeoman over for following too closely behind a truck.

Yeoman showed trooper Bobby Brown an Alaska driver's license and documents
indicating he had rented the truck March 5 in Phoenix, Arizona, for a
one-way trip to Chattanooga, the complaint says. Yeoman told Brown he no
longer lives in Alaska and was moving from Arizona to Tennessee.

Brown wrote up a warning for following too closely. He noticed Yeoman was
"nervous and continually avoid(ing) eye contact" and asked to look in the
back. The trooper found an open box in the front of the cargo area and a
substance believed to be marijuana. The Yeomans were arrested.

The Yeomans are scheduled for a detention hearing at noon today Alaska
time, Johnson said.