LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — The Latest on the sentencing for a former Arkansas judge who admitted trading lighter sentences for sexual favors (all times local):
3:30 p.m.
A federal judge has sentenced a former Arkansas judge to five years in prison after he admitted giving young male defendants lighter sentences in exchange for sexual favors.
A lawyer for 72-year-old Joseph Boeckmann asked the judge Wednesday for a term of home detention. Prosecutors said 37 months in prison was necessary because Boeckmann was a judge with a 20-year history of abusing young men who appeared before him.
Authorities said the FBI investigated Boeckmann for similar crimes twice in the 1990s when he was a deputy prosecutor. He wasn’t charged after he agreed to resign.
U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker had warned Boeckmann she might impose a tougher penalty than that negotiated during a plea bargain. She said his crimes deserve a tougher sentence.
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2:10 p.m.
A sentencing hearing is underway for a former Arkansas judge who admitted giving lighter sentences to some defendants in exchange for sexual favors.
Federal prosecutors are seeking a 37-month prison term for Joseph Boeckmann, while defense attorneys want home detention.
But U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker said Wednesday that Boeckmann abused his power as a judge and that a sentence of five years or more may be warranted. Baker has not yet handed down her decision.
Boeckmann pleaded guilty last year to wire fraud and witness tampering.
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12:01 a.m.
Federal prosecutors are seeking a 37-month prison term for an Arkansas judge who admitted he gave lighter sentences to some men in return for sexual favors.
Joseph Boeckmann is scheduled for sentencing Wednesday in Little Rock. Court filings say Boeckmann was investigated for similar crimes two decades ago but was never charged because he gave up his job as a deputy prosecutor.
Boeckmann later became a district judge and victimized men who appeared in his court for minor offenses. He pleaded guilty last year to wire fraud and witness tampering. The judge hearing his case said last year she was not bound by the terms a plea bargain reached between the prosecutors and Boeckmann’s lawyer.
In a deal with state regulators, Boeckmann left the bench in 2016.