Jeremy Young Hutchinson (born March 4, 1974) is a former politician and convicted felon. A Republican, he served in the Arkansas State Senate for District 33 in the capital city of Little Rock, Arkansas. He served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from two different districts in Pulaski County between 2000 and 2007 and as a state senator from 2011 to his resignation in 2018.[1]
Political career
Hutchinson was first elected to the Arkansas House in March 2000, as representative of Arkansas District 31, Pulaski County. At the time he was the youngest member of the Arkansas House. He was re-elected three times and served on the House Judiciary and Insurance and Commerce committees. He was the vice-chair of the Joint Energy Committee and the assistant minority leader from 2002 to 2004.
On August 4, 2009, Hutchinson announced his intent to run for the Arkansas State Senate from District 22, Pulaski County. On May 18, 2010, he defeated Dan Greenberg, son of the columnist Paul Greenberg, in the Republican primary, 58 to 42 percent. On November 2, 2010, Hutchinson defeated Democratic nominee Dawn Creekmore to claim the District 22 Senate seat. He was re-elected in 2013.
Jeremy Hutchinson was named to Arkansas Business's "40 under 40" in 2002. He served on the board of the Arkansas Council on Economic Education.[2] His biography states that in 2005, he was voted "Best Conservative" by readers of the Arkansas Times.
Conviction and Resignation
On August 31, 2018, the Department of Justice announced that Hutchinson was indicted by a federal grand jury on 12 wire and tax fraud charges.[3] Hutchinson resigned his office the same day.[4] He faces "eight counts of wire fraud for spending the campaign funds on personal expenses and falsifying campaign reports and four counts of filing false tax returns from 2011 to 2014."[4][5] On June 25, 2019, Hutchinson pleaded guilty to "bribery, tax fraud, wire fraud, and conspiracy in connection with a multi-district investigation into spanning the Western and Eastern Districts of Arkansas and the Western District of Missouri."[6][7] On December 29, 2022 Hutchinson was sentenced to 19 days in jail for criminal contempt of court, after failing to pay nearly $524,000 in child support payments. [8] On February 3, 2023 in connection with his guilty plea, Hutchinson was sentenced to 46 months prison by US District Judge Kristine Baker and ordered to pay fines of $224,497.10 to the State of Arkansas and $131,038 to the IRS. [9]
Family and personal life
Hutchinson and his identical twin brother Timothy Chad Hutchinson are the sons of former U.S. Senator Tim Hutchinson and nephews of the Governor of Arkansas, Asa Hutchinson. Timothy Chad Hutchinson represented District 95, Benton County, from 2005 to 2011.
Hutchinson is a nephew by marriage of former state senator Kim Hendren of Gravette, Benton County.[10] Kim Hendren's son Jim Hendren, District 2 state senator from Benton County and the senate majority leader, is Hutchinson's cousin.
In 2006, Hutchinson's mother, Donna Jean King Hutchinson of Bella Vista, Arkansas, was elected to the state House from District 98 in Benton County. She served four two-year terms.
Hutchinson and his former wife were divorced in 2011. He and his former spouse both used alternate forms of their names in that filing; he filed for divorce under his middle name, "Young Hutchinson." On September 4, 2012, Hutchinson's ex-girlfriend, Julie McGee, was arrested for third-degree domestic battery at Hutchinson's Chenal Woods condominium in Little Rock after she hit Hutchinson with a preserved alligator head and left him with a bleeding wound. According to journalist Max Brantley, McGee had said that she had a financial support agreement with Hutchinson. Shortly thereafter, Hutchinson formally requested that the prosecuting attorney drop the battery charges so that he could "move on without any further embarrassment.[citation needed]
In 2013, Hutchinson participated in "active shooter" training and mistakenly shot a teacher with a rubber bullet who was confronting a so-called "bad guy". The experience gave Hutchinson "some pause" but failed to shake his confidence in the training plan.[11]
References
- ^ "Ark. bill for bonds for $346M jobless debt passes". Bloomberg Businessweek. March 28, 2011. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved April 17, 2011.
- ^ "Page not found! - Arkansas State Legislature" (PDF). www.arkleg.state.ar.us.
{{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help) - ^ "Arkansas State Senator Jeremy Hutchinson Indicted on Wire and Tax Fraud Charges". www.justice.gov. August 31, 2018.
- ^ a b Glisovic, KATV, Marine (August 31, 2018). "Arkansas state senator Jeremy Hutchinson resigns after wire and tax fraud indictment". KATV.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Hardy, Benjamin (August 31, 2018). "State Sen. Jeremy Hutchinson to resign following federal indictment".
- ^ "Former Arkansas State Senator Jeremy Hutchinson Pleads Guilty To Bribery And Tax Fraud Charges In Multi-District Investigation". www.justice.gov. June 25, 2019.
- ^ "Jeremy Hutchinson Sentencing on Hold".
- ^ "Sentencing for former state senator Jeremy Hutchinson on federal tax and bribery charges set for Friday". Arkansas Online. February 3, 2023. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
- ^ Hennigan, Mary (February 3, 2023). "Jeremy Hutchinson sentenced to nearly 4 years in prison". Arkansas Times. Retrieved February 4, 2023.
- ^ "Hendren announces bid for representative's seat, August 27, 2013". eagleobserver.com. August 27, 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2013.
- ^ "School Districts Hope to Keep Security Licenses", Arkansas Democrat-Gazette August 28, 2013.