Jason Barrett, a staff attorney in the Arkansas prosecutor coordinator’s office, has been named special prosecutor in Sebastian County to investigate whether former State Sen. Jake Files broke any state laws.
Sebastian County Prosecuting Attorney Daniel Shue requested the special prosecutor last week after he received information that Files may have committed “faults or possible criminal conduct.”
He made the request because of an undisclosed potential conflict of interest and to avoid the appearance of impropriety, Shue wrote in his motion to Circuit Judge Stephen Tabor.
Files pleaded guilty in January to federal charges of wire fraud, bank fraud and money laundering.
The wire fraud and money laundering charges accused Files of misdirecting nearly $27,000 in state General Improvement Fund money from a baseball-softball complex project he was involved in building for Fort Smith and using the money for personal purposes. The bank-fraud charge accused Files of pledging a forklift he did not own as collateral for a bank loan.
Files is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court June 18, according to court records.
Read Tuesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.