Cabot Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Shootout with Police

A Cabot man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for a shootout with police during a narcotics raid in 2013. Mark Lyle Dodson, 54, pleaded guilty to assault with a deadly weapon and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence.

According to prosecutors, Dodson fired a 16-gauge shotgun through a closed bedroom door at members of the Jacksonville Police Department Special Response Team (SRT) who were assisting agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) execute a narcotics search warrant at his Cabot home.

Three SRT members were struck by pellets from Dodson’s blasts, hospitalizing one. Members of the SRT team responded with return fire, hitting Dodson. Despite being injured and bleeding, SRT members gave Dodson life-saving aid as he sat on the bedroom floor.

U.S. District Court Judge J. Leon Holmes sentenced Dodson to five years’ imprisonment for assault with a deadly weapon and 10 years’ imprisonment for discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, for a total sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment. Three years of supervised release will follow the prison sentence.

Dodson was indicted by a Grand Jury following the November 2013 shootout. He pleaded guilty to the assault and discharge offenses on May 12, 2015, as part of a plea agreement that included a 15-year sentence. Other charges, including conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, were dismissed as part of the agreement.

The DEA Little Rock Field Office, Jacksonville Police Department SRT, and Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office investigated the matter. Assistant United States Attorneys Alexander D. Morgan and Anne Gardner prosecuted the case for the United States.

Dodson’s sentence is a reminder of the dangers faced by law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line to protect communities from violent crime. The case highlights the importance of cooperation between local and federal law enforcement agencies in bringing perpetrators to justice.