A Lonoke County man indicted for counterfeiting last year appeared in federal court Wednesday for a bond revocation hearing in front of one judge, then pleaded guilty before another judge on the same count which, according to federal sentencing statutes, could land him in prison for a long as 20 years.
Neil Allen Clem, 31, of Ward, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Susan Webber Wright just moments after appearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Patricia Harris for a bond revocation hearing in the same matter. According to court records, Clem had accumulated numerous violations related to drug use and failure to complete residential substance abuse treatment between November 2020 and last April, and was scheduled for a revocation hearing last month but never showed up.
In Harris' court, Clem's attorney, J. Blake Byrd of Little Rock, told the judge that Clem did not contest the allegations of violations of his pre-trial release agreement, which resulted in the hearing being concluded in just under two minutes.
"He understands that he will be remanded pending the outcome of this case," Byrd said.
"Well, that's an easy answer then," Harris said. "I'll find that the defendant violated the conditions of his pre-trial release and I'll remand Mr. Clem to the custody of the United States."
Clem was then escorted by U.S. marshals to Wright's courtroom for his plea hearing, which kicked off on a humorous note when Wright mixed up the names of the defendant and his attorney while questioning Clem regarding his ability to understand the proceedings.
"Mr. Byrd, are you under the influence of any drugs or medicines that might interfere with your ability to understand this proceeding?" Wright asked.
"No ma'am," Clem responded, hesitantly.
"Are you having trouble hearing me?" Wright asked him.
"No ma'am, but this is Mr. Byrd," he replied, pointing toward his attorney, at which point the judge broke out in laughter.
"I'm sorry," Wright laughed. "The court just had a big lunch, so Mr. Clem, are you under the influence of any drugs or medicine that might interfere with your ability to understand this?"
Clem confirmed that he was not under the influence of any drugs or medications at which point Wright asked Byrd if he was confident that his client was competent to proceed with the hearing.
"I am," Byrd responded, then added, "and I'm also very sober as well," eliciting another laugh from Wright.
"Well, good," Wright said, good naturedly. "I'm sober but I just had a big lunch and I'm not being too sharp right at the moment."
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Jana Harris, Clem was arrested after Lonoke County authorities launched an investigation in March 2020 to look into suspected forgery violations. Harris said that a citizen had called police after finding multiple checkbooks, checks and tax documents in a vehicle that had been recovered on March 10, 2020, after being reported stolen.
According to a probable cause affidavit from the Lonoke County sheriff's office, officers from the Street Crimes Unit discovered that many of the documents and checks had been made out to Clem and a tax document appeared to have been forged with Clem's named written in.
When he was arrested on March 12, 2020, in rural Lonoke County, the affidavit said, deputies searched Clem and found five bleached one dollar bills, numerous debit and credit cards, two syringes and a glass smoking device, a small amount of methamphetamine and a Department of Defense Contractor ID card made out to someone else.
When his vehicle was searched, the affidavit said, deputies discovered another 16 grams of suspected methamphetamine, a Canon printer with a bleached one dollar bill inside that had been printed over with a $20 bill and a half-printed copy of the same $20 bill stuck inside the printer. All of the bills had the same serial number, the affidavit said.
Harris said that Clem admitted to a Lonoke County deputy and a Secret Service agent that the printer was his and that he had printed out about $200 in phony $20 bills to pay off a drug debt.
Lonoke County dropped the charges against Clem in September 2020 after he was federally indicted on the counterfeiting charge.
"You've heard what she said she can prove at trial with respect to the charge," Wright said. "Is what she said about what you did substantially correct?"
"Yes, ma'am," Clem answered, quietly.
After accepting his guilty plea, Wright said Clem would be sentenced after a pre-sentencing investigation by pre-trial services and probation officers and the filing of a pre-sentence report, a process she said would take between 45 and 60 days to complete.