A Lakeview man who got probation for firing a rifle at his girlfriend back in 2017 entered a guilty plea Thursday to being a felon in possession of a firearm and was given a prison sentence.

As part of a plea agreement, Christopher Packley, 36, was sentenced to four years in prison followed by three years suspended after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

During the hearing, Packley's attorney told Circuit Judge Gordon Webb that Packley was requesting he be released for a day or two in order to be with his fiance Erinn Hosford, who is pregnant with the couple's second child.

Webb denied the request, noting when he has granted such requests, the individuals most often do not report back to jail and law enforcement officers then have to track the individuals down.

Packley's most recent conviction stems from a Nov. 18 incident in which Packley and another man were trespassing on Lakeview hunting property owned by a Stone County deputy.

When officers arrived, they found Packley and another man in a truck on the property. Packley was on probation at the time and had a search waiver on file. He told officers he had a rifle and marijuana in the truck.

Law enforcement officers discovered Packley's license was suspended for DWI at the time of the incident. He was arrested on a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and four misdemeanor charges related to marijuana and having an open beer in the truck.

The domestic incident

In February 2017, Baxter County deputies were called to Hickory Flats Lane in Lakeview when a man reported a naked woman, Hosford, rang his doorbell and stated her boyfriend had shot a gun at her and her toddler was still at the residence.

When deputies arrived, they calmed Hosford down to the point where they could ask her about the situation. Hosford kept asking about her son who was still in the home, according to the affidavit filed in the case.

Hosford told deputies she and Packley had been arguing that evening and that Packley was "very belligerent". Hosford called Packley's mother who told her to go to bed and leave Packley alone, so she did.

Packley then accused her of stealing and calling the police, Hosford told deputies. Then, Packley held her down on the floor, choked her and threatened her, she said. At one point, she held their son between them hoping to stop Packley but it didn't work, according to what Hosford told deputies.

That's when Hosford fled the home and sought help at a neighbor's residence.

When deputies spoke with Packley, they noted he smelled of alcohol and his speech was slurred. He told deputies he had been trying to prevent Hosford from taking pills that night and the night before.

He told deputies Hosford broke a lamp over his head and that blood on his fingers was due to him taking a knife from Hosford. Packley told deputies he fired three rounds from a rifle up in the air "hoping she would stop and come back to the house," according to the affidavit.

In June of 2017, Packley pled guilty to felony charges of aggravated assault and first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor. As part of a plea bargain, he was sentenced to four years of probation.

Before Packley entered the plea, Hosford asked prosecutors to drop the charges against Packley. She told the court Packley is a veteran who suffers from post traumatic stress disorder.

Prosecutors declined to drop the charges but took Hosford's wishes into account when offering Packley a plea bargain in the case.

Court records indicate Hosford has asked for an order of protection against Packley on at least three different occasions, beginning in 2016.

In the affidavits, Hosford accuses Packley of choking her, slapping her, abusing her young son and abusing her in front of relatives. In each instance, Hosford asked the court to dismiss the orders of protection.


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