Boeckmann pleads guilty to fraud, tampering charges

Boeckmann pleads guilty to fraud, tampering charges

Former judge admits to giving light sentences in exchange for nude photos, sexual favors

www.arns.publicnewsservice. org LITTLE ROCK — A Cross County judge accused of giving out lighter sentences to men guilty of minor crimes in return for nude photographs or sexual favors accepted a plea agreement last Thursday after admitting to charges that could have resulted in a prison sentence of up to 260 years.

Joseph Boeckmann, 71, was facing nearly two dozen charges according to the indictment in which he was accused of abusing the power of his office for years. As part of the deal, the ex-judge pleaded guilty to two counts — wire fraud and witness tampering — that will still likely result in a prison sentence of 2-3 years.

U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker accepted Boeckmann’s guilty plea.

Federal prosecutors said they would drop 19 other charges after Boeckmann’s sentencing, which will likely occur some time next year. The plea agreement places fines in the range of $10,000 to $100,000. Judge Baker, notably, is under no obligation to impose a lenient sentence on the two charges under which Boeckmann was convicted. In court, Boeckmann spoke briefly during the hearing, indicating only that he understood the deal and agreed to be bound by it. He told the judge later that he was pleading guilty because he was guilty.

While Boeckmann could remain free pending sentencing, he was ordered to stay away from the City of Wynne, where he held court until last year when he was suspended and ultimately removed from the bench.

As a district court judge in Cross County, Boeckmann mainly handled lower-level offenses such as traffic tickets and misdemeanors from 2008 to last year.

Dozens of men who had passed through his court accused the judge of misconduct dating to his time as a prosecutor decades ago. Some said they posed nude in exchange for money to pay their fines.

Attorney Peter Halpern of the U.S. Department of Justice told Baker that Boeckmann had arranged for a third party to threaten a man who had complained about the abuse to state investigators.

Boeckmann admitted doing so Thursday.

According to Halpern, Boeckmann would typically offer men a sentence of community service in lieu of court fines and fees picking up bottles and cans while Boeckmann took photographs. An investigation by The Associated Press into court and law enforcement records last year showed that of the 254 men Boeckmann sentenced to community service over a seven-year period in one of three districts he oversaw, just 13 of the cases included timesheets and court records showing completion of the sentences.

Prosecutors said the judge committed fraud by corruptly using his official position as an Arkansas district judge to obtain personal services, sexual contact and the opportunity to view and to photograph in compromising positions men who appeared before him in court, at times communicating across state lines. He later falsely said the defendants had satisfied their obligations.

The head of the Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission, David Sachar, had called Boeckmann’s actions among the worst cases of judicial misconduct in state history.

Sachar, who had been subpoenaed to appear at Boeckmann s trial had it occurred, said he wouldn’t second-guess the suggested sentence, but noted Baker has a right to stray from the guidelines.

From the Arkansas News Service