Ex-county judge gets 33 months in bribery case

Former Ouachita County Judge Mike Hesterly was sentenced Thursday to two years and nine months in prison and one year of supervised release for bribery related to a federal disaster relief contract.

Hesterly, 50, of Camden, was sentenced in federal court in El Dorado after pleading guilty in June to bribery involving a Federal Emergency Management Agency contract to clean up debris following October 2009 storms in the county. He entered the plea as part of an agreement in which other charges were dropped.

Federal prosecutors say Hesterly awarded a nearly $70,000 FEMA contract to Harry Clemons Jr., 39, of Bearden in exchange for a $4,000 campaign contribution from Clemons. Clemons pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy as part of a plea agreement.

Hesterly, who resigned as county judge in April, had faced up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Read Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.

Information for this article was contributed by The Associated Press.

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