Former Arkansas lawmaker sentenced to 46 months in prison

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A former Arkansas lawmaker who admitted to accepting thousands of dollars in bribes and filing a false income tax return was sentenced Friday to nearly four years in federal prison.

Former state Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, who pleaded guilty in 2019 to filing a false tax return and conspiracy to commit federal program bribery, was sentenced to 46 months in prison and was ordered to repay more than $350,000 to the Arkansas and federal governments.

Hutchinson is the nephew of former Gov. Asa Hutchinson and the son of former U.S. Sen. Tim Hutchinson.

Hutchinson pleaded guilty to the charges as part of a sprawling corruption probe that included several former lawmakers and lobbyists. He’s awaiting sentencing in a separate case where he admitted to accepting thousands of dollars in bribes to help a health nonprofit.

As part of a a plea agreement, Hutchinson admitted to accepting more than $150,000 from the co-owner of orthodontic clinics in exchange for efforts to change a dental practices law. He also admitted that he took more than $10,000 in campaign funds for his personal use and didn’t report $20,000-per-month payments he received from one law firm and other sources of income he knowingly concealed from his taxes.

Hutchinson, a former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, resigned from the Senate in 2018 when he was first charged with spending campaign funds on personal expenses.