LITTLE ROCK — The former University of Central Arkansas president who in March pleaded guilty to federal charges of wire fraud and money laundering has been sentenced to five years of probation.
Lu Hardin was also ordered to perform 200 hours of community service each year of probation, but will not have to pay a fine. The government won't appeal the sentence.
Hardin addressed U.S. District Judge James Moody before the sentencing ruling, repeatedly expressing remorse for his actions.
"This conduct was not up to my standards," he said. "It was an aberration, but that doesn't justify anything."
Several minutes later, Moody agreed with Hardin's assertion, saying he found him to be truly remorseful and his actions to be a "total aberration." The judge recommended Hardin's community service come in the form of teaching a class in ethics and gambling addiction.
As he left the court with his attorney, Chuck Banks, Hardin declined comment. Banks said only that he was "grateful" for the lenient sentence.
Hardin's two charges totaled a maximum possible sentence of 30 years. But sentencing guidelines, which take into account criminal history, acceptance of responsibility and other factors, resulted in an advisory range of far less than that total.
It was reduced further to an advisory range of between 9 and 12 months after Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Harris told Moody that Hardin had provided "substantial assistance" on another investigation. Harris said afterward that Hardin agreed to testify if that case went to trial. He declined to release any specifics on the investigation, but said it started about a year ago and was ongoing.
The sentencing guidelines are not mandatory and Moody ultimately issued a sentence below even the lessened range. Banks had asked for leniency because of Hardin's lifelong commitment to public service, his lack of a criminal history, an extensive file of letters of support and health issues. He said Hardin has a form of cancer that has resulted in complete blindness in his right eye.
"The sentence does not have to punish unreasonably," Banks told Moody. "The sentence does not have to reject all the wonderful things he's done for people."
Hardin, 60, admitted falsifying a letter to the UCA board of trustees to speed up payment of a $300,000 bonus in 2008. Hardin had incurred large debts while playing slot machines and needed the bonus sooner than it was scheduled to be paid.
The federal investigation grew out of reporting by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Hardin acknowledged his actions while speaking to Moody before the ruling. He said the trustees had approached him about keeping him at UCA and he told them that accelerating his bonus would encourage him to stay.
"That's when I made the horrendous mistake of preparing the memo and presenting it to them," he said before apologizing to the school, his friends and family.
Hardin said he had always been anti-gambling before trying a slot machine once at his wife's request while the couple was vacationing.
"It was something I loved the first time I did it," he said. "It progressively got worse and I developed a very serious problem."
Hardin, a former state senator and former head of the Department of Higher Education, resigned from UCA months before a federal investigation that culminated in the criminal charges.
Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
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