Contributed Photo/Courtesy GCSO: Sean Hinton is facing three separate fentanyl offenses, including two cases of possession for sale. His attorney successfully argued for a reduction in his bond during a hearing Tuesday.
Issues strong warning regarding bond forfeiture
By Jon Johnson
“If Mr. Hinton is bonded out and he does not appear the court will forfeit the bond in its entirety. If someone loses their house or whatever over that, then that’s the way that will play out.”
Graham County Superior Court Judge Pro Tem Travis W. Ragland
SAFFORD – Graham County Superior Court Judge Travis W. Ragland reduced former local football coach Sean Jacob Hinton’s largest bond in half during a status conference hearing Tuesday, but did so with a dire warning in case of non-compliance.
Hinton, 40, is being held on three separate bonds from three separate cases. At the start of the hearing, they were listed at $100,000, $25,000, and $20,000, for a total of $145,000 cash or secured as well as his petition to revoke his probation. His new defense attorney, Josi Lopez, requested his bonds be reduced, prompting a discussion. He is facing up to 35 years in prison on his charges.
Hinton was Thatcher’s head football coach from 2015-2018, winning back-to-back 2A state championships in 2016 and 2017. In July 2018 he was removed as Thatcher’s head football coach. More recently, he served as a volunteer assistant coach on Safford High School’s JV football team in 2022.
One of his current cases against him involves possession of a narcotic drug and drug paraphernalia. The other two separate cases also include the charge of possession of a narcotic drug for sale, with the last case including transportation of a narcotic drug for sale as well. He also faces a petition to revoke his probation from a plea deal he took in 2020 that closed out three previous separate cases against him, including DUI-drug charges that stemmed from an incident on the evening of May 20, 2019, in which he was stopped at about 11:36 p.m. for driving without his vehicle’s headlights illuminated.
The second set of charges, which included possession of a dangerous drug (methamphetamine), possession of a narcotic drug (heroin), possession of a prescription-only drug, possession of marijuana, and three counts of possession of drug paraphernalia, stemmed from an incident the afternoon of Nov. 17, 2019, in which Hinton was allegedly found smoking heroin in a truck with a female companion in an area behind the Haven Nursing home off Peppertree Drive.
Hinton’s plea deal in 2020 sentenced him to one year in prison on a guilty charge of solicitation to commit shoplifting – a Class-6 felony.
He was also given a three-year probation term for his drug charges to be served upon his release from prison and 10 days in jail along with one year of unsupervised probation on the DUI drug charge. He was also ordered to a treatment program within six months of sentencing. The year in prison and period of probation were stipulated in the plea agreement, however, the length of the term on probation was up to the discretion of the court.
The new charges stem from three separate incidents involving counterfeit Oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl. According to authorities, in one incident, Hinton accidentally dropped a bag of pills at Home Depot and was caught on surveillance footage.
He was already under investigation by the Arizona Department of Public Safety, which had allegedly purchased 185 counterfeit Oxycodone pills from Hinton during one exchange and had set up a buy for 1,000 pills that fell through.
In March, a warrant was issued for Hinton’s arrest but he fled from officers and called for a ride. When his ride came, Hinton allegedly ran up to the vehicle and tossed a bag of counterfeit Oxycodone pills into it before running away from authorities. Both men were arrested shortly thereafter and Hinton received his second possession of a narcotic drug for sale charge.
Graham County Chief Deputy County Attorney C. Allan Perkins, who was subbing in on the case for Graham County Attorney L. Scott Bennett, argued for a significant bond amount. He also said he felt some in the community appeared to want to give leeway to Hinton perhaps for his past services as a coach and his family’s previous role in town government.
“Basically, Mr. Hinton is facing astronomical numbers if convicted on the most serious charges and priors and (if) the other aggravating circumstances are proven,” Perkins said. “We won’t talk about a specific number but a substantial bond is appropriate in these matters. I know Mr. Hinton has a lot of community backing. Justice isn’t justice unless it’s color blind and person blind and, frankly, I see a lot of effort to negate that in this case. And frankly, I’m troubled by it.”
Hinton faces up to 35 years in prison on one possession for sale charge alone, not to mention any additional time for the probation violation or the other two cases.
Hinton’s defense attorney Josi Lopez told the court that his support system shouldn’t harm his chances of release and should instead help his case. She added that the strong familial connection would preclude him from running.
“He has way too many other things going on,” Lopez said. “He knows how serious these are and he will make sure that he appears for court and I’m sure that his family will make sure that he appears for all court hearings as well.”
Judge Ragland ruled that the bonds were mostly appropriate for what Hinton had been accused of but agreed to cut the largest one in half.
“These numbers, for the most part, are in line with the charges,” Judge Ragland said. “I’ll reduce the (case) 253 to $50,000 cash or secured from $100,000. The rest will remain the same.”
With the $25,000 and $20,000 bonds unchanged, Hinton would have to produce $95,000 cash or secured to be released from incarceration while awaiting adjudication as well as whatever he is being held on for his petition to revoke his probation.
If he is released on bond, Judge Ragland gave a stern warning regarding appearing for future court dates.
“Everyone needs to understand the bond is to ensure appearance,” Judge Ragland said. “If Mr. Hinton is bonded out and he does not appear the court will forfeit the bond in its entirety. If someone loses their house or whatever over that, then that’s the way that will play out. Just so that there are no pause that that isn’t how this works. The entire purpose of it is to make sure the appearance is made and if it’s not made then the surety will be lost.”
Hinton’s next hearing was set for a settlement conference on Monday, Dec. 11, starting at 3 p.m. It is still yet to be decided who will serve as the settlement judge, or if Graham County Superior Court Judge Michael D. Peterson will recuse himself from any hearings or adjudication due to his connections to the prep football coaching world.
