Henry "Hank" Wilkins IV's guilty plea to bribery and conspiracy charges Monday outlines how the former Pine Bluff state legislator helped pass Arkansas laws to benefit certain health care and youth services nonprofits and their lobbyists.
In exchange for his efforts, Wilkins admits that he received more than $80,000 in cash and donations to himself and his church between 2010 and 2014, according to the plea agreement filed in Little Rock federal court late Monday. He awaits sentencing.
Like federal charges filed in early 2017 against two former legislators in Northwest Arkansas, Wilkins' plea details complex schemes of bribery and kickbacks that identify many people and companies by numbers or letters.
According to Wilkins' guilty plea, for example, the conspiracy included Wilkins accepting "cash from Person #1 and checks from Entity A, Lobbying Firm B, Lobbying Firm C, Lobbying Firm D, and others" to introduce and influence legislation favorable to those paying him.
Similarly, three more former Arkansas legislators, a well-known state Capitol lobbyist and two others have been charged in federal courts in Arkansas and western Missouri in the past 17 months with bribery, embezzlement and kickback schemes involving state money and nonprofits.
Among those named and accused in earlier indictments are: two former Springdale legislators -- Jon Woods, on trial now in federal court in Fayetteville, and Micah Neal, who pleaded guilty and awaits sentencing.
The two are accused of sending state General Improvement Fund grants to private Ecclesia College of Springdale and substance abuse treatment facilities connected with Preferred Family Healthcare of Springfield, Mo. in exchange for kickbacks.
Accused separately in federal court in Missouri are former state Rep. Eddie Wayne Cooper of Melbourne, who has pleaded guilty to an embezzlement conspiracy, and longtime Little Rock lobbyist Milton "Rusty" Cranford, who has pleaded innocent to bribery charges and awaits trial.
Wilkins' guilty plea also refers to two more unnamed lawmakers -- "Senator A" and "Senator B." The filing says the two helped pass some of Wilkins' and Cranford's desired legislation. The document doesn't accuse either Senator A or Senator B of any wrongdoing.
The document identifies "Senator A" as serving in that chamber from 2011 to the present and in the state House from 2000-07. Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson, R-Little Rock, has served those same terms in the state House and Senate, according to state legislative records.
He also is listed as a co-sponsor with Wilkins of House Bill 2227, which became Act 1017 on April 8, 2013. The legislation is mentioned in the bill of information federal prosecutors filed laying out Wilkins' actions that violated federal law.
HB2227 was titled in part: "An act to avoid unnecessary expansion in Medicaid costs and services related to early intervention day treatment for children."
Hutchinson also was among 17 Senate sponsors of HB1328, sponsored by Wilkins and titled "An act to require DYS [Division of Youth Services] to appear before the legislature for any changes to Youth Provider Contracts."
The Wilkins plea agreement said the laws were favorable to the interests of a lobbyist who provided cash to Wilkins, three lobbying firms connected to the lobbyist, and the Springfield, Mo., company that provided services in Arkansas and four other states that included mental and behavioral health treatment and counseling, substance-abuse treatment and more.
Hutchinson, Gov. Asa Hutchinson's nephew, did not respond to repeated requests for comment at his Little Rock law firm Tuesday.
"Senator B" in Wilkins' guilty plea is identified only as a state senator who sponsored Senate Bill 507, which became Act 818. It appropriated "up to $1 million from the General Improvement Fund to the state Department of Human Services for 'behavioral health services to the citizens of the state of Arkansas' for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 2014."
Legislative records show the sponsor was current state Sen. Eddie Cheatham, a Crossett Democrat.
Asked Tuesday if he was "Senator B" in the Wilkins indictment, Cheatham said he had just learned that he apparently is indirectly identified as that senator in the government's description of Wilkins' actions.
Cheatham said he hasn't been accused of any wrongdoing by federal investigators or anyone else in connection with the legislation.
The state disbursed about $250,000 under the legislation, the plea bargain said.
Cheatham said he followed through on Cranford's request to sponsor a bill to direct state money to youth services schools in the senator's south Arkansas district.
"I did not know that Senator A and Rep. Wilkins had put money in there also," he said.
Wilkins' 22-page plea agreement details how he went about passing legislation that benefited certain nonprofit companies.
For example:
On or about Feb. 13, 2013, an employee of the Bureau of Legislative Research wrote "Senator A" and Wilkins about a shell bill that became HB2227. "Shell bill" in the Legislature is a term for a general bill that's intended to be fleshed out later, but must be filed early because of legislative deadlines.
"Attached are the shell bills you requested on behalf of [Senator A] and [Wilkins]. They have NOT been run for introduction yet."
"Senator A wrote, 'Please run for introduction. I'm [sic] no[t] sure where we should start the bill (house or senate)."
Then Senator A directs a question to the person identified as a lobbyist with three firms working for behavioral health providers: "[Person #1], any thoughts?"
In March 2013, Wilkins, the lobbyist and Senator A continued to communicate about where the legislation stood, the plea agreement shows. The bill passed in the House on March 28, and in the state Senate on April 4, the agreement says.
"HB2227 was favorable to the interests of Person #1, Lobbying Firm B, Lobbying Firm C, Lobbying Firm D, Entity A and Entity F," Wilkins' plea agreement states.
"In exchange for the bribe payments from Person #1, Lobbying Firm B, Lobbying Firm C, and Lobbying Firm D, Wilkins agreed to advance the interests of those lobbying entities through this bill," the agreement states.
Wilkins, 64, a Democrat, is a former Pine Bluff church pastor who served as a state senator and representative from 1998 to 2015. He resigned as Jefferson County's chief executive in March, after his name surfaced during Cranford's arraignment in a Missouri federal court.
A Section on 05/02/2018