Monday, September 16, 2024
On Aug. 9, a Hood County jury convicted Colby Nicholas Arnold, 36, for multiple counts of identity theft and drug possession. After finding Arnold guilty of the charges, the jury sentenced him to a total of 107 years in prison.
Arnold was charged were fraudulent use/possession of identifying information — 50 or more items; possession of a controlled substance — methamphetamine; and possession of a controlled substance — morphine. Because he already has numerous other felony convictions, Arnold is classified as a “habitual felon,” exposing him to a higher punishment range.
On March 3, Granbury Police Department officers were at the home of Arnold’s neighbor looking for a lost cell phone. The neighbor indicated that Arnold repaired cell phones and computers and may be in possession of the phone in question. When officers approached Arnold about the phone he mentioned being in possession of many phones — the comment led to a search warrant being executed at his workspace.
Upon entering Arnold’s workspace, officers found drugs in plain sight and items of personal identifying information that did not belong to him. Officers further searched the space and found hundreds of items of personal identifying information — such as credit cards, membership cards, passports, drivers’ licenses and other similar items.
On Aug. 8, Hood County Assistant District Attorney Max Lisle and Assistant District Attorney Cecily McLaughlin presented the case to a jury in the 355th District Court.
The jury sentenced Arnold to 80 years in the state penitentiary for the identity theft charges, 25 years in prison for the morphine charge, and two years in state jail for the methamphetamine charge.
“Everybody these days has been impacted in some way by identity theft. We take these crimes seriously in Hood County. I’m proud of the work that the Granbury Police Department and ADA Lisle and ADA McLaughlin did to ensure that a perpetrator of these crimes was brought to justice in our county,” said Hood County District Attorney Ryan Sinclair.
