Jeremy Hutchinson sentenced to nearly 4 years in prison

Nov 03, 2023

U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker on Friday sentenced Jeremy Hutchinson, the former Republican senator, to 46 months in prison.

Hutchinson, son of former U.S. Sen. Tim Hutchinson and nephew of former Gov. Asa Hutchinson, has been all over the news in recent years for charges of bribery, submitting false income taxes and being a deadbeat dad who doesn't pay child support.

Baker set a consecutive sentence of 46 months, which broke down into 18 months for bribery and 28 months for tax fraud. Through his attorney, Timothy Dudley, Hutchinson requested to self report to prison. Baker granted the request. He's due on March 6, and he requested to be placed in the Texarkana location, though that decision is left for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

In addition to the prison sentence, Hutchinson will serve at least three years of supervised release where he will not be allowed to start new credit lines without approval from a probation officer. The officer will also be granted access to Hutchinson's funds.

Because the case had a restitution attached to it — that means money needs to be paid to victims — the judge also ruled that Hutchinson is to pay $224,497.10 to the state of Arkansas and $131,038 to the IRS. The amounts should start being paid during his incarceration and continue afterward at a rate of 10% of Hutchinson's monthly income during supervised release. Payments at the same rate for an $11,500 fine to the Arkansas Ethics Commission will also start during the probation period.

The sentencing at the Federal Courthouse lasted for about 2 hours, including an "under seal" period where only the attorneys and judge were allowed in the room to discuss Hutchinson's cooperation. Attorney Marco Palmieri represented the government's side.

When arguing sentencing periods, Hutchinson's attorney requested that the judge consider 12 months and one day. Dudley based this off of what he referred to as the "similar defenses" of the co-conspirators. Dudley said that the initial guideline Baker announced early in the sentencing of 70-87 months was a disparity compared to others who have committed similar crimes. He also argued that Hutchinson has been waiting for four years to hear a sentence, which created struggles for employment and caused him to take jobs with doing yard work, driving for Uber and delivering food orders.

Dudley said that in addition to his employment struggles, Hutchinson has suffered in other ways. He referenced letters that were delivered to the court in support of Hutchinson that were from his family and friends, and also drug addicts, a former U.S. attorney and a man serving life in prison for murder. Dudley glazed over a letter from Hutchinson's children with his ex-wife Stephanie Anne Hutchinson, which he noted was "a bad situation that stems from divorce." [CORRECTION: Stephanie Anne Hutchinson reached out after this story was published initially to note that the letter to the court came from her children, not her, as we previously reported.] Overall, Dudley said that Hutchinson is "a good man who made a bad mistake."

Dudley said that as a public official, "getting indicted and convicted is worse than going to prison." He also said that a longer prison sentence does not deter people from doing crimes.

Palmieri, representing the government, pushed back against Dudley's request for a sentence of just a year and a day, a length of time he said was not "appropriate or adequate." Palmieri also argued that defendants should be held accountable for their choices and that Hutchinson used his privileges as an elected official to carry out schemes. He urged Baker to send Hutchinson to prison for six and a half years.

Upon announcing her sentence, Baker said that she didn't take the Hutchinson family name into consideration when deciding the sentence. Baker said that she recognized there had been a long delay for sentencing, but noted some of it was the COVID-19 pandemic and no one's fault. In reference to his family troubles, which have included failure to pay child support but also claims of abandonment, she said, "Any kid needs time and attention, but that doesn't cost a dime." She noted that his difficult family situations were not unique to him.

Baker also said she questioned his efforts at finding work. Though she said she didn't consider this when determining his sentence, Baker said she sees convicted felons every day who manage to get jobs and support their families.

Further, she said that Hutchinson's crimes did not stem from him being bad with money, unorganized or unable to file paperwork correctly. "This isn't a one-time thing you stumbled into," she said.

Hutchinson faced indictments from three jurisdictions, Eastern and Western Arkansas and also in Missouri. Friday's sentencing covered the crimes of failing to report income for taxes on money he illegally spent from his campaign account and for taking bribes from an orthodontist to help him with legislation useful to his business. He also faces sentencing for taking bribes from Preferred Family Healthcare to help it in the legislature. He's pleaded guilty but no sentencing date on that charge has been set.

As a reader of the Arkansas Times, you know we’re dedicated to bringing you tough, determined, and feisty journalism that holds the powerful accountable. For 48 years, we've been fighting the good fight in Little Rock and beyond – with your support, we can do even more. By becoming a subscriber or donating as little as $1 to our efforts, you'll not only have access to all of our articles, but you'll also be helping us hire more writers to expand our coverage and continue to bring important stories to light. With over 63,000 Facebook followers, 58,000 Twitter followers, 35,000 Arkansas blog followers, and 70,000 daily email blasts, it's clear that our readers value our great journalism. Join us in the fight for truth.

Commenting FAQs