Ecclesia College in Springdale received a $50,000 state grant before it even applied for the money and another $50,000 grant after the deadline for accepting applications had passed, according to federal court testimony Wednesday.
The December 2013 state General Improvement Fund grant came from an economic development district based in Hot Springs, which is about a 200-mile drive from the private, Christian college.
The same district’s board approved another $50,000 grant to Ecclesia at its next quarterly meeting in March 2014. The college’s application for that grant bears a false time stamp showing the application met the Feb. 28 deadline for consideration when it did not, the district director testified.
Dwayne Pratt was the government’s first witness on Wednesday in the public corruption trial of former state Sen. Jon Woods. Pruitt is director of the West Central Arkansas Planning and Development District in Hot Springs. He testified that he took the grant requests to the board despite the deadline issues at the insistence of then-state Sen. Michael Lamoureux, R-Russellville, who was president pro tempore of the Senate at the time.
Woods, who was indicted in March 2017, is accused of a kickback scheme involving such grants issued in 2013 and 2014. Two alleged co-conspirators — consultant Randell Shelton, formerly of Alma; and Oren Paris III, former president of Ecclesia, were indicted with Woods.
The kickback allegations also involve $550,000 of the more than $717,500 in state General Improvement Fund grants Ecclesia received from 2013 through 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice contends.
Woods directed the most grant money Ecclesia received at more than $350,000, court records show.
The grant application from Ecclesia for the first $50,000 from the West Central district was received by the district on Dec. 12, 2013, although a letter informing the college it had received the grant is dated Nov. 25, 2013, according to documents provided to the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette last year under a Freedom of Information Act request. Ecclesia signed the grant agreement Dec. 17.
The only document from legislators provided by that district in support of the December grant is a letter dated Dec. 18, 2013 with Woods’ signature and on his Senate stationary, according to the district records.
The signed agreement for the second $50,000 grant was received March 24, 2014. That grant’s file also contained a letter from Woods, dated March 12 of the same year, in support of Ecclesia’s application, according to district documents.
A copy of the March 14, 2014, letter notifying Paris his grant was approved was sent to Lamoureux. Lamoureux declined comment last year when contacted by the Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Senate records provided by Lamoureux show no grants to Ecclesia College. Lamoureux was Senate president at the time the $50,000 grants to Ecclesia were awarded. As Senate president, his name was attached to any improvement fund money left over after each senator received a share. Any grants coming out of that remainder would have been attributed to Lamoureux, even if another senator made the request, former state senators confirmed.
Ecclesia reported it used the grants to help buy two proprieties of almost 50 acres in 2013.
Read Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.