Former Arkansas governor’s nephew, state legislator gets almost 4 years in prison

A former Arkansas lawmaker who admitted to accepting thousands of dollars in bribes and filing a false income tax return was sentenced Friday to nearly four years in federal prison.

Former state Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, who pleaded guilty in 2019 to filing a false tax return and conspiracy to commit federal program bribery, was sentenced to 46 months in prison and was ordered to repay more than $350,000 to the Arkansas and federal governments.

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Hutchinson is the nephew of former Gov. Asa Hutchinson and the son of former U.S. Sen. Tim Hutchinson.

Hutchinson pleaded guilty to the charges as part of a sprawling corruption probe that included several former lawmakers and lobbyists. He’s awaiting sentencing in a separate case where he admitted to accepting thousands of dollars in bribes to help a health nonprofit.

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As part of a plea agreement, Hutchinson admitted to accepting more than $150,000 from the co-owner of orthodontic clinics in exchange for efforts to change a dental practices law. He also admitted that he took more than $10,000 in campaign funds for his personal use and didn’t report $20,000-per-month payments he received from one law firm and other sources of income he knowingly concealed from his taxes.

Hutchinson, a former chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, resigned from the Senate in 2018 when he was first charged with spending campaign funds on personal expenses.