U.S. House hopeful in Arkansas district has theft record

TV service billed to ex-boss

Libertarian candidate Steven Jay Isaacson, 62, of Eureka Springs.
Libertarian candidate Steven Jay Isaacson, 62, of Eureka Springs.

The Libertarian candidate running against U.S. Rep. Steve Womack was convicted of felony identity theft in 2009, he confirmed Wednesday.

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Democrat-Gazette file photo

U.S. Rep. Steve Womack is shown in this file photo.

"The whole matter should have been a civil dispute," said candidate Steven Jay Isaacson, 62, of Eureka Springs.

Constitutional Requirement

“No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the age of 25 years, and been seven years a citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that state in which he shall be chosen.” Source: Qualifications for members of the U.S. House, as given in Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution.

"I'm a disabled veteran, and I didn't have the money to fight this thing," Isaacson said, so he accepted a plea agreement.

"You know how the courts work," he said. "It's 'Let's make a deal.'"

Criminal convictions can disqualify a candidate from seeking state, county or municipal offices in Arkansas, but those laws do not apply to federal offices.

The qualifications for office for a U.S. representative are set out in the U.S. Constitution. Article 1, Section 2, of the Constitution makes no mention of criminal convictions. States have no authority to overrule the Constitution, said Daniel Schultz, legal counsel for the state Board of Election Commissioners. Other than that, the commission had no comment, Schultz said.

Isaacson is running against Womack, a Republican from Rogers. There are no other candidates for the 3rd District seat on the Nov. 8 ballot.

"We all fall on hard times," Claire Burghoff, a spokesman for Womack, said in a statement Wednesday. "Congressman Womack believes that how you handle them speaks to a person's judgment. Unfortunately, this doesn't bode well for Mr. Isaacson's ability to make the best decisions on behalf of 3rd District Arkansans."

The criminal charge involved a bill to a former employer of Isaacson's by DirecTV for $533.21, Carroll County District Court records show. Isaacson said he never received any service from the company. The businessman who was billed, owner George Coffey of Bear Mountain Riding Stables of Eureka Springs, reported the matter to the Carroll County sheriff's office on Feb. 9, 2009, after receiving a call from DirecTV over nonpayment, court documents show.

Isaacson "on or around Jan. 16, 2008, without permission, used George Coffey's identifying information to set up a [DirecTV] account for himself," according to court documents.

Records from the television-service provider sent to Carroll County sheriff's investigators showed the account was created on Jan. 16, 2008, and activated five days later. It was cut off May 17 the same year "with a write-off amount of $533.21," court documents show. "The service, billing, shipping and cc address were all the same: George Coffey, 19416 Highway 62W," Isaacson's address, according to the documents.

Isaacson received bills in George Coffey's name at the address, he said, but called George Coffey about them. Isaacson said his calls to Coffey were never returned.

Both George and Patricia Coffey told deputies Isaacson obtained George Coffey's personal financial information, including his birth date and Social Security number, from records at the Inspiration Point Volunteer Fire Department shortly after Coffey left there as chief. Isaacson was a volunteer with the department.

Neither Coffey nor their business ordered anything from DirecTV, the couple said.

"If he can figure out how to beat you out of something, he will," George Coffey said Wednesday in a telephone interview. "He's a total thief."

Patricia Coffey said the couple had hired Isaacson to do some repair and renovation work at the riding stables before any of the billing occurred, with additional duties of leading customers on trail rides. They fired him for not doing the repair work or other tasks, she said.

"He didn't do anything else but the trail rides because then he might get tips from customers," she said.

Isaacson said the real reason for his firing was the Coffeys wanted to hire someone else.

A telephone message to the Libertarian Party was not returned. Michael Kalagias, a legislative candidate from Garfield in Benton County, is on the party's executive board but said the party chairman would be the most appropriate one to comment. He said he would inform the party chairman of the situation. As of Wednesday evening, the party had not made a comment nor issued a statement.

"If people ask me about it, I'll tell them," Isaacson said.

Isaacson agreed to one year of probation and $500 in fines, $420 in court costs and other prosecution-related expenses, $115 in restitution and a $100 fee for legal representation by a public defender, Carroll County District Court records show. He pleaded "no contest."

Metro on 10/13/2016

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