Rusty Cranford denied bail because of alleged plot to murder co-conspirator | Arkansas Blog

Rusty Cranford

Rusty Cranford denied bail because of alleged plot to murder co-conspirator | Arkansas Blog:

"Cranford has also been implicated, but not charged, in a separate case in which one former legislator, Rep. Micah Neal, has pleaded guilty and another, Sen. Jon Woods, is awaiting trial on charges of conspiring to get kickbacks from state money directed to  Ecclesia College, a Bible college in Springdale, as well as Preferred Family Healthcare. Still others may yet be charged.

There has been some speculation that Cranford might take a plea deal for testifying in Woods' case and potentially others involving Arkansas legislators. That is presumably out the window if he's actually charged in the alleged murder-for-hire scheme. "



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Prosecutor says legislator Hank Wilkins took $100,000 in bribes from indicted lobbyist | Arkansas Blog

During the bond hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Mohlhenrich said that Jefferson County Judge Henry "Hank' Wilkins IV gave a statement to FBI agents Feb. 22, the day after Cranford was indicted, that he'd taken $100,000 in bribes from Cranford when Wilkins was a Democratic state legislator between 2011 and 2015. The bribes were ostensibly gifts to a church Wilkins pastored, St. James United Methodist in Pine Bluff. The gifts are memorialized in a plaque posted at the church. Wilkins directed at least one $50,000 state grant to a Monticello behavior health center operated by the company for which Cranford worked.

Prosecutor says legislator Hank Wilkins took $100,000 in bribes from indicted lobbyist | Arkansas Blog:



"Let's now say this: Every incident in which Rusty Cranford or his company figured in a state distribution of GIF money has to be viewed in light of Hank Wilkins, Micah Neal, Jon Woods and Eddie Cooper. Association is not proof of illegal activity, but it carries an aroma. There are dozens of legislators with such associations. The money sent to Ecclesia College in Springdale alone had many legislative backers. The Arkansas Times has been howling about that money for years. Why was a tiny Christian college getting hundreds of thousands in tax money when state institutions numerous legislators represented got nothing? Perhaps it was just Jon Woods' charm that brought others on board.  His charitable interest in Ecclesia knew no bounds. He passed a bill to authorize higher education department money to be channeled to Ecclesia, whose president, a friend of Woods, also has been indicted.  (It didn't come to pass.) He talked at one point of having medical marijuana tax revenue dedicated to Ecclesia, but that idea, fortunately, didn't make the ballot measure."

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Rusty Cranford

A hit job | The Week That Was | Arkansas news, politics, opinion, restaurants, music, movies and art

Rusty Cranford

A hit job | The Week That Was | Arkansas news, politics, opinion, restaurants, music, movies and art:



"The alleged murder target was D.A. Jones, a Pennsylvania consultant who's pleaded guilty to scheming to get money from Preferred Family Healthcare, the Medicaid-enriched nonprofit that made millions providing mental health and other services in Arkansas and neighboring states. Cranford once worked there, too. Cranford has not been charged, but the information is contained in a prosecutor's motion that Cranford be denied bail on an earlier charge. Earlier court filings indicate Cranford played a role in the kickback scheme in which former Republican state Rep. Micah Neal and former Republican state Sen. Jon Woods, both of Springdale, are accused of working with others to channel a portion of state money aimed at Ecclesia College to themselves. Neal has pleaded guilty. Woods is awaiting trial."



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