LITTLE ROCK — A former Arkansas judge who admitted giving young male defendants lighter sentences in return for personal benefits that included sexual favors is offering to give up his law license before he leaves for a five-year prison term.
Joseph Boeckmann's letter to the Arkansas Supreme Court's Committee on Professional Conduct was released Monday. It was signed Feb. 21, the same day a federal judge sentenced Boeckmann, a Wynne resident, for mail fraud and witness tampering.
The panel said that since Boeckmann approached the court, it would not be necessary to hold a hearing.
Federal prosecutors said Boeckmann would dismiss traffic citations or misdemeanors for young men in exchange for their posing for photographs in compromising positions or submitting to sexual contact, then log their compliance as performing "community service."
Prosecutors said Boeckmann's crimes date back decades.
