A former Arkansas judge accused of granting more lenient sentences to young male defendants in exchange for sexual favors has pleaded guilty to wire fraud and witness tampering charges.
Joseph Boeckmann of Wynne changed his plea Thursday morning at a hearing in Little Rock, exactly a year after being indicted by a federal grand jury. The former Cross County district judge’s trial was set for later this month.
Boeckmann had initially faced 21 charges: eight counts of wire fraud, two counts of witness tampering, one count of bribery and 10 counts of violating the federal Travel Act.
His sentencing will happen at a later, unannounced date. The plea agreement recommends at least two-and-a-half years in prison.
All charges stemmed from nine defendants in his Cross County court who were between the ages of 16 and 22.
In October 2016, a federal grand jury found that Boeckmann had used his position as a judge in a “corrupt” manner to “obtain personal services, sexual contact and the opportunity to view and to photograph in compromising positions those who appeared before him in traffic and misdemeanor cases in exchange for dismissing the cases.”
In many of the reported cases, Boeckmann was reported to have given the defendants his personal cellphone number.
Eight of nine defendants were told they would have their cases dropped if they allowed being photographed picking up litter, authorities said. The ninth said he was told his case would be dismissed if he was photographed or submitted to being paddled, court records show.
According to Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission findings, the abuse went as far back as the 1980s — when Boeckmann was a deputy prosecutor.
David Sachar, the commission’s executive director, referred to the case as “the worst case of judicial misconduct in Arkansas history," according to a previous Arkansas Democrat-Gazette article.
Boeckmann, who was elected district judge in 2008, resigned in May 2016 during an investigation by state judicial officials.
Soon after, three defendants who appeared before Boeckmann on charges from 2009 to 2013 filed civil lawsuits against him.
Read Friday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
Information for this article was contributed by The Associated Press and Kenneth Heard of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.