Jeremy Hutchinson, who resigned his state Senate seat Aug. 30 after being indicted on federal wire-fraud and tax charges, was released on his own recognizance Tuesday with an unusually short set of conditions after pleading innocent to the charges.
The 44-year-old nephew of Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson was accompanied to court by his father, former U.S. Sen. Tim Hutchinson; his stepmother, Randi Hutchinson; and his attorney, Tim Dudley of Little Rock.
He was indicted Aug. 30 by a federal grand jury on eight counts of wire fraud and four counts of filing false income tax returns. The charges allege that the veteran lawmaker -- who served eight years in the state House of Representatives and was in his eighth year as a state senator -- spent thousands of dollars in campaign funds on trips, groceries and other personal expenses, and underreported his income.
He is the sixth current or former Arkansas legislator since last year to face federal charges. Five ex-lawmakers have pleaded guilty to charges or been convicted in public-corruption investigations spanning Arkansas and Missouri.
Dudley filed a motion last week challenging the legality of a standard set of pretrial release conditions that are routinely imposed in the Eastern District of Arkansas. He argued that the only condition that the law requires a judge to impose on someone released on personal recognizance is that he not commit any crime during his pretrial release.
He said the law allows judges to impose other conditions only if the judge determines that the defendant poses a risk of failing to appear for future proceedings or poses a danger to the community or any other person.
In a response filed Monday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Mazzanti said Dudley "has accurately set forth the law regarding pretrial release." She said federal prosecutors aren't alleging that Hutchinson would be a flight risk or a danger to the community and asked only that the court impose the condition that Hutchinson commit no other crimes.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Harris said Tuesday that she would grant Dudley's motion because there was no objection from the government. Speaking directly to Hutchinson, who stood before her with Dudley at his side, Harris noted that "since this is the only condition you're being required to comply with," she would draw up a special order setting only that condition for him to sign.
Harris said there was no need for him to sign a standard three-page order "that doesn't really apply to you."
A standard order of release used by judges in the Eastern District of Arkansas requires the defendant, even if released on personal recognizance, to cooperate in the collection of a DNA sample and to advise the court or pretrial services officer in writing before changing his residence or telephone number.
Judges can also check boxes on a long list of additional conditions requiring defendants to report regularly to a pretrial services officer; surrender any guns and passports; refrain from excessive use of alcohol and illegal drugs; avoid all direct and indirect contact with co-defendants, witnesses or victims; actively seek employment; attend counseling; or be on a curfew or home detention, with or without electronic monitoring.
Defendants must sign and date an acknowledgment that any violations of the conditions can result in penalties such as revocation of the pretrial release or a warrant for the person's arrest.
In a brief he filed last week, Dudley cited Title 18, Section 3142 of the U.S. Code, which spells out federal release conditions in two sections.
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Dudley said Tuesday that he has raised the issue before in another case before Harris and his motion was granted then, too. He said the statute is "very plain," and the extra conditions are probably routinely applied simply because it has been a practice in the Eastern District for years.
A representative of the U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services Office in Little Rock didn't return a reporter's call Tuesday about the routine release conditions.
Harris set an Oct. 22 jury trial date for Hutchinson before U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker. However, initial jury trial dates are tentative and are usually postponed. Harris noted that prosecutors have estimated that it would take them a week to present on their case against Hutchinson.
If Hutchinson is convicted, each wire-fraud count is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, while each tax charge is punishable by up to three years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000. Federal sentencing guidelines, which judges must consider during sentencing, recommend a penalty range within the statutory range, based on the circumstances of each case and the defendant's criminal history.
On the day he was indicted, Hutchinson announced his Senate resignation, effective immediately, saying it had been his "greatest honor" to serve his district, which included Pulaski and Saline counties. He also said, "I intend to defend myself and offer truthful evidence to a jury as soon as possible. I do not agree with decisions that have led us to this place, but I am powerless to control those decisions."
His appearance Tuesday before Harris was brief, lasting only about five minutes. Mazzanti was accompanied by Ben Wulf, an assistant U.S. attorney from the Western District of Arkansas who is also acting as a special assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District, and Marco Palmieri of the Public Integrity Section of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C.
Hutchinson, a lawyer by profession, is accused of improperly using more than $200,000 in campaign contributions and of underreporting on his tax returns the income he received for 2011-14, including fees "purportedly for providing legal or consulting services."
His attorneys have said he cooperated with the government for more than five years.
Metro on 09/19/2018