EL DORADO (AP) — Former Ouachita County Judge Mike Hesterly is scheduled to be sentenced for bribery related to a federal disaster relief contract.
Hesterly is to be sentenced Tuesday morning in federal court in El Dorado after pleading guilty in June to bribery involving a Federal Emergency Management Agency contract to clean up debris following October 2009 storms in the county. He entered the plea as part of an agreement in which other charges were dropped.
Federal prosecutors say Hesterly awarded a nearly $70,000 FEMA contract to Harry Clemons Jr. of Bearden in exchange for a $4,000 campaign contribution from Clemons. Clemons pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy as part of a plea agreement.
Hesterly, who resigned as county judge in April, faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.