News

CORRUPTION REDUX: OFFICIALS’ ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES TOPS LIST FOR 2ND STRAIGHT YEAR

By Ray King/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Friday, December 30, 2005 10:27 PM CST

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the final installment in a series of articles on the top 10 news stories of 2005 as selected by the staff of the Pine Bluff Commercial.

The year 2005 was not a good one for elected officials in Pine Bluff and Jefferson County. A city alderman was sentenced to prison, a second alderman began serving a federal prison sentence, and a circuit judge and the circuit clerk both resigned after being convicted of crimes.

The activity wasn’t limited to Jefferson County as the former mayor of Dumas was ousted from office by a state Supreme Court ruling in April, following a 2003 conviction on two misdemeanor charges.

Elected officials weren’t the only ones to run afoul of the law in 2005, with two Pine Bluff police officers being fired, one linked to a probe of improper use of a city-issued gasoline credit card and the other for allegedly kidnapping and raping a woman he had arrested while on duty.

As the year ends, state police are still conducting an investigation into alleged criminal activity in one or more Jefferson County departments that could lead to charges after the first of the year.

Corruption in government was voted the top story of 2005 by the staff of The Commercial for the second year in a row.

Former Pine Bluff alderman Jack Foster was sentenced to three years in a federal prison on April 10 after his conviction in 2004 of committing attempted extortion under color of official right.

He appealed that conviction to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals at St. Louis and a three judge panel heard oral arguments in the case on Nov. 18. A ruling is expected sometime in early 2006.

Foster was ousted from the City Council the day after his sentencing after a hearing in Jefferson County Circuit Court. Former Civil Service Commissioner Thelma Walker was elected to replace him in a special election.

Meanwhile, a second forer Pine Bluff alderman, Billy Freeman Sr., began serving a 13-month prison sentence at the federal correctional facility at Forrest City in June. Freeman pleaded guilty to a federal extortion charge and to a state theft of property charge in 2004 and resigned from the council.

Former county circuit clerk Jeanette Hence pleaded guilty to one count of criminal attempt to tamper with a public record, a Class A misdemeanor, on May 2 and agreed to resign immediately.

The charge against Hence was filed by Special Prosecutor Tim Williamson of Mena after a State Police investigation into questionable spending by Hence.

Circuit Judge Jodi Raines Dennis suspended a 12-month prison sentence on condition that Hence make restitution for the $14,077.92 that legislative auditors said were inappropriate charges on her county credit card, plus pay a $1,000 fine and court costs.

Fifth Division Circuit Judge Fred D. Davis III resigned from the bench March 31, following his conviction in January for using a dealer license plate on his 2002 Chevrolet Avalanche pickup truck in an effort to avoid paying sales and personal taxes on the vehicle. He was given a three-year suspended sentence.

The Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission censured Davis following a hearing in June, and declared that Davis was not qualified to seek or hold judicial office in the future.

In Dumas, the long running battle between former Mayor Clay Oldner and 10th Judicial District Prosecutor Thomas Deen came to an end in April, when the state Supreme Court said Oldner’s two misdemeanor convictions — for abuse of office and witness tampering — constituted “infamous crimes” under the Arkansas Constitution.

Oldner told a meeting of the Dumas City Council a few days later he would not fight the court decision, and left office April 25.

Former Pine Bluff Police Sgt. Kelvin Hadley was fired Dec. 8, after being linked to an investigation into the improper use of a gas credit card and former officer John “Dusty” Jones was fired March 18 after he was charged with sexually assaulting a woman he had arrested.