LITTLE ROCK — A detention hearing is scheduled today on whether County Judge Mike Hesterly will be released from jail, where the Ouachita County administrator has been held since being indicted on federal corruption charges.
The bail hearing for Hesterly will be held at 1 p.m. Monday in U.S. District Court in Hot Springs, according to the U.S. District Court docket.
Hesterly previously waived a bail hearing, which had been set for last Tuesday. He is represented by Camden attorney Jamie Pratt, who has not commented on why Hesterly waived that hearing.
Hesterly, 47, and Harry Clemons Jr., 39, owner of Clemons Construction in Bearden, are charged with conspiracy to defraud an agency of the United States. Each faces a count of bribery concerning a program receiving federal funds, according to a federal indictment. The maximum term of imprisonment for conspiracy is five years. The maximum term of imprisonment for bribery is 10 years per count.
During Hesterly’s arraignment Jan. 18 in U.S. District Court in El Dorado, the U.S. attorney’s office requested that the Ouachita County judge continue to be held in jail because of what Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenny Elser alleged were threats against witnesses Jeff Davis of Davis Dozer & Construction, and FBI agent Nick Powe. U.S. Magistrate Barry Bryant approved the request, and Hesterly has continued to be held in the Union County Jail in El Dorado.
Clemons, who has remained free since the indictments, was released on a $5,000 unsecured bond, with one of the conditions being that he not have contact with the witnesses whom Hesterly is accused of threatening.
During Hesterly’s arraignment, Pratt denied the allegations that Hesterly has threatened witnesses. The U.S. attorney’s office said it was ready to proceed with a bail hearing, but Pratt said he had just heard of the allegation and requested time to prepare for the hearing.
Federal court documents allege that in 2010 Hesterly and Clemons conspired to award Clemons a contract to clean up debris in Ouachita County in exchange for a payment to Hesterly for his re-election campaign. The debris was from two tornados that struck the county in October 2009.
Both defendants pleaded innocent during a Jan. 18 arraignment. Clemons’ trial has been set for March 13 in El Dorado. A trial date for Hesterly has not been set, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Fort Smith.
Arkansas, Pages 9 on 01/28/2013