Martha Shoffner made one correct decision. She resigned as Arkansas state treasurer late Tuesday.
Shoffner was arrested in a weekend sting at her Newport home and jailed for two nights in Pulaski County after an FBI informant delivered a $6,000 payment to her.
Federal prosecutors have accused her of accepting kickbacks from the informant, an as-yet-unnamed broker who admits his business with the state clearly benefited from the arrangement.
News of the two-term treasurer’s arrest prompted quick calls for her resignation from her fellow Democrats and from state Republicans, but on Monday as she left her first court appearance, Shoffner was asserting her intention not to resign.
By Tuesday, there had been a call for Gov. Mike Beebe to convene a special session of the Legislature to consider her removal from office. The governor, among the first to say she should resign, restated his belief she should leave office and leave quickly. Even Shoffner’s own lawyer was saying publicly he’d advise her to step down.
Shoffner is in serious trouble. A federal grand jury will decide whether to indict her, but these extortion charges could carry maximum penalties of 20 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.
Unquestionably, her continuation in office would have been an enormous burden on the already troubled treasurer’s office.
Elected treasurer in 2006, Shoffner has been under political fire in her second term regarding her investment practices. Among concerns was the sale of state bonds before they matured, costing the state $439,249, revealed as a result of a legislative audit and follow-up hearings before state lawmakers.
This criminal charge apparently developed in 2012 when a whistle-blower from the treasurer’s office approached the FBI, alerting agents to state investment decisions that favored one broker over others. The broker was interviewed and has been granted immunity from federal prosecution in exchange for his cooperation.
According to an FBI affidavit, the broker had $6,000 in cash delivered to Shoffner every six months, some of it in a pie box with a pie. He paid her $36,000 over three years.
On Saturday, the broker delivered the latest payment with pie, recording the meeting. The FBI executed a search warrant and found the money inside a cigarette package in Shoffner’s kitchen.
Further, Shoffner “admitted she knew it was wrong to accept the payments,” the aft davit said.
Shoffner is innocent of these charges until and unless she is proven otherwise. But whether or not she should have stayed in office really did not hinge on a determination of her guilt or innocence.
Resolution of the criminal case could take a long time, and Shoffner would have been wrong to take the treasurer’s office - and the state - along for the ride.
Besides, just the admission she knew she shouldn’t have accepted the broker’s payments, not to mention the questionable early sale of state bonds, demonstrated her violation of the public’s trust.
She needed to make way for someone else who can be trusted to rebuild the oft ce.
Thankfully, she has resigned.
Shoffner can now focus on answering the charges against her. Gov. Beebe can turn his attention to choosing her successor.
Since the appointee cannot run for the oft ce next year, he or she can tackle the job unfettered by the usual political considerations.
Choose well, governor.
BRENDA BLAGG IS A FREELANCE COLUMNIST. E-MAIL COMMENTS OR QUESTIONS TO [email protected].
Opinion, Pages 5 on 05/22/2013