Ex-Arkansas senator, inmates send letter offering to help build border wall

Former senator now in U.S. prison

Former Arkansas senator Jon Woods is shown in this file photo next to a screenshot of a letter of a letter he shared offering prison labor to build a Mexican border wall.
Former Arkansas senator Jon Woods is shown in this file photo next to a screenshot of a letter of a letter he shared offering prison labor to build a Mexican border wall.

Former Arkansas Sen. Jon Woods has shared a letter from federal prison addressed to President Donald Trump, offering prison labor to build a Mexican border wall in exchange for credit toward inmates' sentences.

Signed by 80 inmates including Woods, the letter noted that federal prisoners already take part in construction projects in Texas.

"Prisoners are a willing and untapped work force," says the Nov. 8 letter, faxed to Northwest Arkansas TV station KNWA-TV and made public Tuesday. "Mobile housing or [Federal Emergency Management Agency] trailers would be adequate living conditions for us at this work site."

"We would also ask that a form of sentence credit be considered for our work if called into action," the letter says.

KARK-TV and KLRT-TV news director Austin Kellerman of Little Rock wrote an article about the letter Tuesday that appeared on the fox16.com website.

Kellerman said that Woods, or someone working with him, called the Fayetteville news station saying the letter was coming by fax.

Woods, imprisoned at Texas' Federal Medical Center Fort Worth, could not be reached for comment late Tuesday.

The Springdale Republican is serving an 18-year, 4-month sentence in the federal prison on 15 fraud-related counts linked to kickbacks and state grants.

Woods was found guilty of pocketing thousands in cash for directing state grants to Ecclesia College, a small Christian college in Springdale, as well as to a Springfield, Mo., mental health treatment nonprofit, Preferred Family Healthcare Inc., formerly Alternative Opportunities Inc. Woods is appealing his conviction.

Asked whether Woods wrote and sent the letter, his attorney, Patrick Benca of Little Rock, said, "No comment."

The 80 prisoners on the letter listed their prison identification numbers and their individual construction skills, such as welder, carpentry and general labor.

Each prisoner is also identified by his ethnic background; Woods, for example, is listed as European American. American Indians are listed by their tribal affiliation.

Woods, a musician and longtime state legislator, listed his construction skills as "logistics" and "general labor."

The letter also praises Trump's long-debated plan for a border wall: "We have come together because we understand the benefit that a border wall will bring the country."

The letter says prisoners "appreciate the current White House positions and recognize the positive things that they have brought America."

A White House spokesman, Judd Deere, promised Tuesday to check whether Woods' letter had arrived at the White House.

Metro on 11/14/2018

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