New charge added to ex-lawmaker bribery case
FAYETTEVILLE — Federal prosecutors have added a conspiracy
charge in a revised indictment filed against a former state senator and two others accused in a bribery scheme.
Former Sen. Jon Woods, Ecclesia College President Oren Paris III and consultant Randell Shelton Jr. each have been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit fraud, the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported. The men were charged in a federal indictment in March.
The Justice Department alleges that Paris paid Woods and former state Rep. Micah Neal kickbacks for a total of $550,000 in grants for his college from 2013 to 2014. Shelton is accused of using his consulting firm to pass the kickbacks to Woods and Neal through consulting fees Paris approved.
The revised indictment replaces previous grand jury indictments against Woods, Paris and Shelton.
Woods faces 15 counts of fraud and has also been charged with one count of money laundering. Paris and Shelton face 14 fraud charges.
Woods, Paris and Shelton
have pleaded not guilty and are scheduled for trial Dec. 4. If convicted, they face up to 20 years in prison on fraud conspiracy charges. Woods faces an additional 10 years on the money laundering charge.
Neal pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud Jan. 4. He hasn’t been sentenced.
Arkansas board to hear condemned killer’s bid for clemency
LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Parole Board says it will hear a convicted murderer’s bid for clemency just more than a month before he’s scheduled to be executed.
The board said Friday it will hold a hearing Oct. 4 on Jack Greene’s application for executive clemency. Greene was convicted of killing Sidney Jethro Burnett in 1991 after Burnett and his wife accused Greene of arson.
Gov. Asa Hutchinson last month scheduled Greene’s execution for Nov. 9 after the state said it had a new supply of midazolam, one of three drugs the state uses for lethal injection.
In April, the state scheduled eight executions before its previous supply of midazolam expired. Four prisoners were put to death and four other men were spared by the courts.