President Donald Trump’s recent string of pardons for prominent white collar criminals continued on Wednesday with clemency for Jeremy Hutchinson, the disgraced former state senator from Little Rock who was at the center of a bribery scandal at the Arkansas Legislature that ensnared multiple lawmakers, lobbyists, health care executives and others.

Jeremy Hutchinson, the nephew of former Gov. Asa Hutchinson and son of former U.S. Sen. Tim Hutchinson, is a member of one of Arkansas’s most prominent political families. News of the pardon was first reported by CBS on Wednesday and confirmed by an attorney close to the Hutchinson family.

Here’s the official pardon letter from the president.

Jeremy Hutchinson, 51, was convicted in both Arkansas and Missouri on federal charges that included accepting bribes from Missouri nonprofit Preferred Family Healthcare in exchange for directing Medicaid money their way and performing political favors in the state Legislature. The Missouri-based nonprofit provided behavioral health care, substance abuse treatment, assistance for developmentally disabled people and other services at dozens of sites around Arkansas before it was cut off by the state’s Medicaid program due to the corruption scandal.

Hutchinson also was found guilty of misspending campaign contributions and lying on his tax returns to cover it up.

Jeremy Hutchinson has been serving his time at a minimum-security federal prison camp in Montgomery, Alabama, awaiting his release date of May 25, 2029. Now, thanks to Trump, he’ll get to skip out on the remainder of his 50-month sentence for bribery, wire fraud and tax fraud.

Austin Gelder is the editor of the Arkansas Times and loves to write about government, politics and education. Send your juiciest gossip to austin@arktimes.com.
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Benjamin Hardy is managing editor at the Arkansas Times. His email is benjaminhardy@arktimes.com
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