FAYETTEVILLE -- The appeal by Oren Paris III, the former Ecclesia College president who pleaded guilty in a kickback scheme, can proceed without waiting while evidence involving his co-defendants' appeals is disputed, the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals decided Monday.
The evidence under dispute also involves the federal case against former state Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson of Little Rock.
Paris, of Springdale, pleaded guilty April 4 in federal court in Fayetteville to one count of conspiracy. Prosecutors said he paid kickbacks to then-state Sen. Jon Woods and then-state Rep. Micah Neal, both of Springdale, in return for state grants to Ecclesia from 2013 to 2015.
The kickbacks were routed through the consulting business of Randell Shelton Jr., formerly of Springdale. Paris paid Shelton for being a consultant to Ecclesia, a private religious school in Springdale. Shelton would then pay the kickbacks to Woods and Neal.
Woods and Shelton are appealing their May 3 convictions. Paris retained his rights to an appeal as a condition of his guilty plea. The three men's appeals were linked before Monday's ruling. Neal pleaded guilty Jan. 4, 2017, to one count of conspiracy and cooperated with investigators long before that plea, according to court records. Paris was set to go to trial with Woods and Shelton but changed his plea to guilty the week before trial began.
How much was paid in kickbacks was never determined because many of the payments were made in cash, according to the U.S. Justice Department's case at Woods and Shelton's trial. Shelton's consulting firm was paid at least $267,000 by the school while state grants to Ecclesia totaled $717,500. Of that, $550,000 was steered to Ecclesia by Woods and Neal. The rest came from lawmakers who didn't know about the kickback scheme, according to testimony at trial. Woods and Neal encouraged grants from other lawmakers, according to trial testimony.
Woods is serving an 18-year, three-month prison term on a 15 felony-count conviction. Those charges also involve a kickback from another entity besides Ecclesia. Shelton was sentenced to six years in federal prison on 12 counts, all related to Ecclesia. Paris received a three-year sentence. Neal received one year of home confinement.
Woods and Shelton argue in appeal briefs that the investigation of them stems from information improperly gleaned from a laptop computer in the possession of Hutchinson's ex-girlfriend. Hutchinson awaits federal trial on charges of avoiding taxes and misspending election campaign money. The Justice Department denies the laptop's information was either improperly accessed or even used in any of these cases.
Hutchinson's and Woods' cases are linked, attorneys for Woods and Shelton argue in their appeal, because Hutchinson cooperated with federal investigators in 2014 and encouraged his client and former lobbyist Milton "Rusty" Cranford to tell federal investigators Woods solicited a bribe. The FBI used information gleaned from the disputed laptop to force Hutchinson's cooperation, Hutchinson's defense attorney maintains.
Hutchinson's defense motion outlining the laptop evidence dispute was filed in his case in federal court in Little Rock earlier this year. Attorneys for Woods and Shelton then filed a motion saying they should have been informed about the issues involving Hutchinson's cooperation and the laptop before their client's trial. More appeal motions on the matter are due from the attorneys for Woods and Shelton by the end of this week.
Attorneys for Paris filed a motion March 4 saying the issues raised in the Hutchinson case aren't relevant to their client. Paris bases his appeal on alleged misconduct of investigators in the Ecclesia case.
Paris will languish in prison while Woods and Shelton dispute myriad matters in an unrelated case if the cases aren't severed, Paris' attorneys argued in the March 4 brief. If the Woods and Shelton appeal succeeds and those co-defendants are granted a new trial, the March 4 brief states, Paris would remain in federal prison while the Woods-Shelton case is retried.
The 8th Circuit granted the motion to sever in a one-sentence court order Monday. Paris' attorneys were unavailable for comment Monday, a spokesman for their office said.
In related matters, the federal investigation concerning bribery and related crimes by Cranford has resulted in either the conviction of or gathering of guilty pleas from Cranford and from four former state lawmakers to date, including Woods and Neal.
Cranford pleaded guilty to one count of bribery. He entered that plea in June in federal court in Springfield, Mo. Another former lawmaker, Sen. Jake Files of Fort Smith, pleaded guilty to fraud in January of last year over matters unrelated to either Cranford or Ecclesia.
The investigation is ongoing, according to court documents.
Metro on 03/19/2019