Attorneys for former state Treasurer Martha Shoffner said Friday that federal probation officers are recommending a 15-to-19-year prison term for her bribery and extortion convictions, but they think time in a halfway house and on home confinement is more appropriate.
As of Friday afternoon, no sentencing date had been set, but the court docket shows that a pre-sentence report was completed April 8, indicating that her sentencing soon will be scheduled.
The Newport woman, who will turn 71 in July, was in her second term as treasurer when she resigned in May 2013 after being indicted on public corruption charges.
In March 2014, a federal jury convicted her of all 14 bribery and extortion charges she faced in connection with $36,000 in cash she accepted from a state bond broker, Steele Stephens, over three years in return for directing the lion's share of the state's bond business toward him.
Attorneys for Shoffner, also a former three-term state representative, argued in a sentencing memorandum that Stephens, who testified that he made more than $2 million in commissions from his employer, St. Bernard Financial Services of Russellville, by buying and selling bonds for the state, "has not been charged with any crime and has not been required to disgorge any of his profits."
Stephens, the star witness against Shoffner at trial -- albeit a reluctant one -- did lose his brokerage license as a result of the situation.
Shoffner's attorneys emphasized in the sentencing memorandum that no state funds were lost as a result of her accepting bribes from Stephens, and that "the financial benefits enjoyed by Steele Stephens were not intentional or foreseeable, to her," even though she knew it was wrong to accept money from him.
The attorneys cited Stephens' testimony that Shoffner trusted him, considered herself like an "older sister" to him and "wouldn't know a bond from an onion."
They also cited Stephens' testimony that his trades earned more than $12 million for the state during the three-year period.
"In Ms. Shoffner's arrest, trial and conviction, she faced challenges and anxiety that few criminal defendants must face, due to the immense media coverage of the trial, which was only compounded by the consistent, negative use of her personal image in campaign advertisements during the following election season," wrote Little Rock attorney Grant Ballard.
He asked U.S. District Judge Leon Holmes to "consider the punishment she has already received," as well as her age, the financial struggle she now endures as a result of losing her job and having felony convictions, her lack of any prior convictions and her contributions to society, as well as her dedication to public service.
"Her proudest moment was having her mother present when she was sworn in as Arkansas' State Treasurer," Ballard wrote. "The shame she now brings to bear on her family name is a source of constant anguish."
"Ms. Shoffner's love for public service was instilled in her by her aunt, Irma Shoffner, who was the Circuit Clerk of Jackson County, Arkansas, for approximately 30 years," the defense attorney said.
He included in the sentencing memorandum that Shoffner, who was never married, lives near her sister and her cousins in a "heavily mortgaged" house in need of repairs that she cannot afford.
"She understands she will lose her home, after a sentence is issued in this case, due to a loss of Social Security income and lack of ability to work and earn an income as she has steadily throughout her life," he said.
Calling Shoffner "a good person who made a bad mistake," Ballard included excerpts from letters that have been written to the court on her behalf.
The letters came from friends, her former and current pastors, the former Newport mayor and other former state representatives, including former federal law clerk Lindsley Smith of Fayetteville, who wrote, "I believe that Martha Shoffner's loss of public office and public humiliation have been a severe penalty and that her current financial circumstances and advanced age make additional sentencing requirements both impractical and unnecessary. I urge you to temper justice with mercy."
Smith once clerked for U.S. Circuit Judge Richard Arnold, for whom the federal courthouse in Little Rock was named after his death in 2004.
Arguing that the sentencing calculations of the U.S. probation office are incorrect, Ballard said a "more appropriate" penalty range under federal sentencing guidelines would be 41 to 51 months, or 3 1/2 to just over four years. But he said the circumstances of Shoffner's case and the manner in which she has lived her life otherwise merit a departure from the guideline range. He suggested a "split sentence placing Ms. Shoffner in a halfway house and later in home confinement," adding that "a community service component would be proper."
Specifically, Ballard requested a sentence of 12 to 18 months, with up to nine months to be served in a community correction institution, such as a halfway house, and the remaining half to be served on home detention, "with a rigorous community service term."
Ballard said in a separate filing that several "facts" in the pre-sentence report are wrong, including that she failed to properly report campaign fund expenses.
Shoffner had been expected to have a second trial on 10 mail-fraud charges related to her re-election campaign in 2009, until U.S. Attorney Chris Thyer dropped the charges in November. Shoffner admitted that she used $9,800 in leftover campaign funds in 2010 to pay down a personal credit card, but her attempt to plead guilty on Nov. 10 fell apart when she said she couldn't agree that she had planned a year earlier to use the leftover funds like that.
Ballard also took issue with the report's contention that Shoffner asked Stephens to give her money to pay her rent on a Little Rock apartment, noting that Stephens testified that he "agreed" to give her that money in lieu of buying a building that was being foreclosed on and allow her to live in a "small part" of it. She had been living in the building rent-free to help the out-of-state owner maintain it.
The attorney also objected to statements in the report indicating that Shoffner and Stephens had a clearly outlined agreement that he would pay her in return for her giving him more state bond business. Ballard quoted Stephens' testimony at trial that he gave her the money to better his "chances."
Stephens gave Shoffner $6,000 in cash every six months to cover her rent on a $1,000-a-month apartment. He admitted at trial that they were trying to be discreet, which is why they only wanted to meet once every six months, and why he often hid the wads of $100 bills inside a pie box, delivering the cash along with a pie.
Metro on 05/02/2015