FAYETTEVILLE - Former Fayetteville developer Brandon Barber will remain in the Washington County jail until a full detention hearing in his case can beheld, possibly next week.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Erin Setser sent Barber, 37, back to jail Friday after his attorney Asa Hutchinson III saidthere might be appropriate options for his client other than home incarceration until he stands trial on federalbank fraud and bankruptcy fraud charges.

Barber has been in jail since Tuesday, when Setser ruled that Barber should be incarcerated at home, then determined he had no permanent residence in which to stay. He had been released to home detention on a $50,000 cash bond after his arrest in New York City on March 20. Friday’s hearing was to address where Barber’s home incarceration would be: New York or Jonesboro.

“If you don’t stipulate to home incarceration, we need to have a full-blown hearing,” Setser said Friday.

Hutchinson and U.S. Attorney Conner Eldridge hadspent hours Friday working on a release agreement in the judge’s chambers. But Hutchinson’s answer to the judge’s question in court late Friday seemed to come as a surprise to both Setser and Eldridge.

“Your honor, we have been back and forth all day,” said Eldridge. “It has been unclear to me all day what the defendant’s position is, and we have been all over the map.”

Setser agreed.

“Mr. Hutchinson, we have gone all day trying to figure out what your position is,” she said. “The parties, as I understand it, were in agreement on home incarceration. … Now that is being challenged.”

Hutchinson said Barber handed him a note at that point in the hearing saying he didn’t realize he would be sent back to jail Friday.

“So you are now willing to stipulate to home incarceration?” asked Setser.

“Yes, your honor,” said Hutchinson.

But the judge seemed exasperated.

“At this point, I think I just need to hear it all out,” she said. “I see no other alternative at this time but to send this matter for a full detention hearing.”

Setser said the hearing could last two days. It hadn’t been scheduled as of late Friday.

Barber, a Jonesboro native, was a prominent Fayetteville real-estate developer before the recession that began in 2007. His Fayetteville developments include the seven-story, $17 million Legacy Building.

He was indicted on 27 counts of bank fraud, bankruptcy fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit those crimes.

The federal charges against Barber involve about $30 million in loans and his $53 million Chapter 7 personal bankruptcy in 2009, debt that Barber sought to have discharged because he said he has no assets.

Hutchinson didn’t return a telephone call after the hearing seeking comment. Asa Hutchinson Sr., his father, said he had no comment because he wasn’t in court when the decision was made. The senior Hutchinson, who is a candidatefor governor, is also an attorney representing Barber in the case.

At the beginning of Friday’s hearing, Eldridge told Setser that a New York court had lifted a restraining order that kept Barber from having contact with his girlfriend’s two children.

That meant Barber could, in theory, be incarcerated at the apartment on East 83rd Street in Manhattan that he has shared since fall with Kristin Foodim. The rent at that apartment is $5,200 a month, Foodim testified Monday during a bond-revocation hearing for Barber.

Another option was for Barber to live with his parents in Jonesboro. Hutchinson had proposed that in court on Tuesday and on Wednesday in a written motion. But he filed a motion Friday withdrawing the Jonesboro option in favor of the New York apartment.

On Friday, Setser also ordered Barber to fill out networth and cash-flow statements. She said that it was important for the court to know his financial situation and that those documents would be kept under seal.

Testimony on Monday indicated Barber hasn’t received a paycheck since Feb. 2. That check, for $4,875, was from The Hotaling Group, where Barber sold insurance. It was made out to KFNYC, LLC, a limited liability company set up by Foodim.

On Tueday, Setser sentenced Barber to home incarceration, then determined he didn’t have a residence suitable for that because of the restraining order, so she sent him to jail.

After his indictment, Setser ordered Barber held on home detention, which allowed him to leave the apartment in New York from 7 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. to go to his office at The Hotaling Group.

But on April 25, Barber left work early without telling his probation officer. Eldridge said Barber’s whereabouts were unknown from about 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. that day.

Barber said he met Foodim outside her attorney’s office to review affidavits in the custody case involving her children. Her ex-husband, Gary Foodim, had filed for the restraining order against Barber, and it was granted temporarily on April 17.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 11 on 05/11/2013