Proposal to free ex-Arkansas judge opposed

U.S.: Residence too near Wynne

Former Cross County District Judge O. Joseph Boeckmann
Former Cross County District Judge O. Joseph Boeckmann

Federal prosecutors voiced opposition Friday to a proposal that former Cross County District Judge Joseph Boeckmann be allowed to reside with relatives at a Garland County home, instead of in jail, until his federal jury trial.

Boeckmann, 70, who presided over traffic infractions and misdemeanor cases in Wynne from 2009 until he resigned in May, was arrested Monday on 21 federal charges, including bribery, fraud and witness tampering.

An indictment handed up Oct. 4 and unsealed Monday alleges that he dismissed charges against defendants in exchange for obtaining personal benefits, including work on his property, as well as the opportunity to view and photograph the defendants in compromising positions, and the opportunity to paddle the defendants, who were identified as boys and young men.

At a detention hearing Wednesday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Joe Volpe heard testimony from an FBI agent about his interviews with three people who had been defendants in Boeckmann's courtroom. He said two of them reported that they had been offered bribes in exchange for clearing Boeckmann's name with state judicial officials and other investigators, and the other one admitted offering one of the bribes on Boeckmann's behalf.

Based on the testimony, Volpe agreed that Boeckmann constituted a danger to the community if released until trial and ordered him detained. But, citing Boeckmann's age and an uncertain trial date, Volpe said he would consider allowing the former district judge to remain free until trial if he could make court-approved arrangements to live outside the community. Volpe noted that the alleged victims live in or near Wynne, and that's where, the FBI agent said, they were offered bribes.

At the time, defense attorney Jeff Rosenzweig said Boeckmann had family members, who were in the courtroom, who lived in the state's Western District. He said he would consult with them before filing a motion.

On Thursday, Rosenzweig filed a motion saying that the U.S. probation office had investigated Boeckmann's sister and brother-in-law, who live in Garland County, and determined that they would qualify as "acceptable third party custodians should the Court permit Boeckmann's release." He didn't name them in the publicly filed document, "to protect their privacy."

Even though the Western District is headquartered in Fort Smith and Fayetteville, on the state's far western edge, Garland County is just barely in the Western District. Its main city, Hot Springs, is only 45 miles from Little Rock, which is the headquarters for the Eastern District of Arkansas.

Cross County, where Wynne is located, is four counties east of Pulaski County, or six counties east of Garland County, but prosecutors with the U.S. Department of Justice said Friday that the two counties aren't far enough apart to make prosecutors comfortable with the proposal.

Asking that the motion for release be denied, an attorney with the U.S. Department of Justice wrote: "The evidence regarding the defendant's tampering with Person J shows that the defendant has both the ability and the willingness to obstruct justice without contacting witnesses personally. Accordingly, releasing the defendant into third-party custody outside the Eastern District of Arkansas will not assure the safety of the community because the defendant would still be able to continue to engage in witness tampering by directing other individuals to bribe or threaten witnesses on his behalf, as he has done before."

The response added that if Boeckmann were detained until trial, it "would eliminate his ability to give such directions because his contacts with third parties would be monitored."

If Volpe grants the motion for release to the proposed third-party custodian, "the government requests that the Court enter an order directing the defendant to stay away from and to have no contact with any witness in the case, either directly or through a third party," the prosecutor added.

On Wednesday, FBI agent Mike Wood testified that a person he identified only as Person J reported that he had been contacted through Facebook by Person K, who met with him and said Boeckmann would pay him any amount he wanted if he retracted a statement he had given to the state Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission, which was investigating Boeckmann.

Wood said Person K later confirmed most of the encounter, though Person K denied that he had relayed a threat that Person J would "be made to disappear" if he didn't cooperate.

Wood also testified that he interviewed a person he identified only as Person D, who said that in April, while discussing the commission's investigation with Boeckmann, the former judge offered him $500 to be a witness on his behalf. The agent noted that Person D had received community service from Boeckmann in which Person D allowed Boeckmann to photograph him picking up a can in Boeckmann's yard. Wood said photographs of Person D were found in Boeckmann's house during the execution of a search warrant.

Volpe hadn't entered an order on the request for Boeckmann's release as of Friday evening.

Boeckmann faces eight counts of wire fraud, two counts of witness tampering, one count of bribery and 10 counts of violating the federal Travel Act, in connection with the allegations involving nine male defendants in his court who were between the ages of 16 and 22.

Rosenzweig said in December, in response to the commission's investigation, that Boeckmann denied any allegations of wrongdoing, and said that any photographs taken were "solely for the purpose of recording proof of community service."

Metro on 10/22/2016

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