Henry Wilkins IV, Bribery, Arkansas 2023

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Former Arkansas Official Sentenced in Bribery Scandal

LITTLE ROCK, AR – Former Arkansas State Senator and State Representative Henry (Hank) Wilkins IV was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison for conspiring to accept over $95,000 in bribes in exchange for influencing Arkansas state legislation and transactions.

According to court documents, Wilkins accepted bribes from lobbyists and non-profit organizations while serving in the Arkansas General Assembly from 2010 to 2014. The bribes were transmitted in the form of cash and checks funneled from lobbying firms to a discretionary fund held in the name of St. James United Methodist Church, where Wilkins served as a pastor and had access to the deposited funds.

In exchange for the bribes, Wilkins performed official acts, including filing shell bills, sponsoring full bills, voting in favor of specific legislation, and steering approximately $245,000 in General Improvement funds to entities that funneled bribes to him through his church.

Wilkins, 68, previously pleaded guilty on April 30, 2018, to a federal Information charging him with conspiracy to commit bribery concerning programs receiving federal funds, and conspiracy to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud and deprive the citizens of Arkansas of their right to honest services.

As part of the conspiracy, Wilkins also admitted to devising a scheme to conceal the bribe payments as donations to St. James United Methodist Church.

United States District Court Judge Brian S. Miller sentenced Wilkins on March 7, 2023. In addition to the federal prison sentence, Judge Miller ordered Wilkins to serve three years of supervised release and repay $123,000 in restitution.

The FBI investigated this case, and Senior Litigation Counsel Marco A. Palmieri and Trial Attorney Jacob Steiner of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section, along with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephanie Mazzanti, Patrick C. Harris, and Ben Wulff, prosecuted the case.