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Jon Woods

Jonathan Earl "Jon" Woods
Member of the Arkansas Senate
from the 7th district
In office
January 14, 2013 – January 9, 2017
Preceded byBill Pritchard
Succeeded byLance Eads
Member of the Arkansas House of Representatives
from the 93rd District
In office
January 8, 2007 – January 14, 2013
Preceded byDoug Matayo
Succeeded byJim Dotson
Personal details
Born (1977-08-23) August 23, 1977 (age 47)
Charlotte, North Carolina
Political partyRepublican
ResidenceSpringdale, Arkansas
Alma materUniversity of Arkansas
OccupationMusician
former legislator
WebsiteLegislative Bio

Jonathan Earl Woods, known as Jon Woods (born August 23, 1977, in Charlotte, North Carolina), is a Republican and a former member of both houses of the Arkansas General Assembly, a record producer, as well as a musician. He is now in federal prison for political corruption, wire and mail fraud, and money laundering.[1]

Background

In 1979, Woods and his family relocated from North Carolina to Blytheville in Mississippi County in eastern Arkansas. He attended Gosnell public schools through the ninth grade, where he played football, basketball, and ran track. He began his involvement in local and state government through the mentorship of Arkansas State Representative Ann Bush, a fellow Republican. Ann and her husband, Allen, part owners of Bush's Baked Beans, recruited Woods to join the Boy Scouts of America, in which he earned the rank of Eagle Scout.

Having grown up in the Arkansas Delta, Jon was heavily influenced by the music scene in nearby Memphis, Tennessee.

In 1993, at the end of Jon's freshman year of high school, his father was offered a job with Allen Canning located in Siloam Springs in Benton County, Arkansas. After relocating to Siloam Springs, Woods attended the John Brown University basketball camp during the summer before his sophomore year at which he met John W. Brown, who became a Special Operative Pararescueman and was killed in action the 2011 Chinook shootdown in Afghanistan.[2]

During Woods' junior year at Siloam Springs High School, he attended Arkansas Boys State. While in high school, Jon played football and basketball, but chose soccer rather than track. Several of the high school soccer team players were musicians, who inspired Woods to pick up the guitar more seriously. He also took private vocal lessons at John Brown University. During this time, fellow basketball and soccer player, musician, and close friend Tim Berry died in a car accident at the age of sixteen. Years later, Tim would be the inspiration for the band name, A Good Fight, named for the verse in II Timothy 4:7. During his high school and college years, Woods lifeguarded at the Siloam Springs municipal pool and Dawn Hill Country Club, where he also taught private swimming lessons. Upon graduation in 1996, Woods attended Northwest Arkansas Community College in Bentonville. He obtained two degrees, an Associate of Arts and an Associate of Science in Business.

He continued his education at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, and served in the Associated Student Government Senate. He was elected chairman of the College Republicans and stayed involved with the Republican committees of Benton and Washington counties. He was a member of the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, Alpha Zeta chapter and was a member of the intramural soccer team for the fraternity. While at the University, Jon completed an internship at the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center, at which he helped small businesses develop through market research and business development. During this time, his non-college activities included taking private drum, guitar and bass lessons. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration with a focus on Marketing Management from the Sam Walton College of Business at UA-Fayetteville in 2002.

After graduation, Woods took a job in commercial banking in Benton and Washington counties. He co-founded the pop rock band A Good Fight, in 2004, and in 2006, at the age of twenty-nine, was elected to the Arkansas House of Representatives and was sworn in on January 8, 2007 as the youngest member of the Arkansas 86th General Assembly.

Music Background

Growing up in the Arkansas Delta, Woods and his brother, Dustin, were heavily influenced by the Memphis Music Scene and events held on Mud Island during the 1980s and early 1990s.

In 1993, after the family relocated from the Delta to Siloam Springs, Dustin Woods began to practice the guitar and was named most talented his senior year, 1997, at Siloam Springs High School. Dustin Woods had two bands in high school, and both performed in talent shows in his junior and senior years. Because of Jon Woods' interest in politics and sports, he was not as devoted to music as his brother during his high school years.

In 2004, Jon and Dustin Woods and Sean Marriott formed A Good Fight. After a two-year period with thirty auditions, the Woods' and Merriott agreed to select Eddie Love as lead vocalist in 2006. The band released two albums, The City Could Be Ours By Morning in 2008 and self-titled album A Good Fight in 2010. Both albums had songs featured on several reality shows on MTV and Sony PlayStation's MLB 13: The Show. In a short period of time the band performed at several large venues such as the SXSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas.[3]

While in the legislature in 2009, Woods supported HB1837, Act 497, by J. R. Rogers of Walnut Ridge. This Act designated a portion of Highway 67 in Northeastern Arkansas to be called "Rock 'N' Roll Highway". Some of the legendary musicians who regularly traveled on this stretch of highway during the 1950s and 1960s included Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Roy Orbison, Conway Twitty, Fats Domino, and Sonny Burgess. The goal of this legislation was to honor Arkansas' Rock 'N' Roll heritage, and to boost tourism and economic development for the region.[4] Woods also advocated, although unsuccessfully, for moving the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame from the Pine Bluff Convention Center to the River Market District in Little Rock so that the hall of fame would gain more exposure. The hall of fame houses personal possessions and items of Arkansas musicians and celebrities.[5]

In 2011, Woods produced The Plaid Jackets first album The New Adventures of the Plaid Jackets Vol 1, which featured the international hit "Adam West is Batman". This song is featured on the documentary, Starring Adam West.[6][7][8][9]

Political career

Woods served in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 2007 to 2013 and in the Arkansas Senate from 2013 to 2017. During his legislative career, he sponsored 103 bills that became law, pushed for the establishment of nearly a dozen task forces and commissions, and passed four constitutional amendments. Restricted by term limits that then allowed only three terms in the state House of Representatives, Woods decided to run for the Arkansas State Senate for District 7, which includes most of Springdale, Tontitown, Goshen, Elkins, Durham and parts of Fayetteville and all of eastern Washington County.[10] In 2012, Woods was elected to the Arkansas State Senate. In 2015, Woods received an award from the American Red Cross for performing life saving CPR on a visitor to the Arkansas State Capitol.[11][12][13]

Arkansas House of Representatives 2007-2013

2007-2009 86th General Assembly

During his first term he showed his ability to bring people of differing points of view together by making Arkansas' first Umbilical Cord Blood Bank a reality. This institution harvests primitive stem cells from umbilical cords,[14] helping advance stem cell research without abandoning his pro-life convictions. Along with Senator Johnny Key, Woods was awarded the Invest in Life award for his work on the project.[15][16]

2009-2011 87th General Assembly

In his second term during the 87th General Assembly in 2009, he became the chair of the technology committee,[17] an unheard of feat for a second term member from the minority party. He sponsored legislation that helped amend the Arkansas State Constitution granting the citizens of Arkansas the right to hunt, fish, trap, and harvest wildlife.[18] It was referred to the voters in 2010 where it passed with 612,495 votes or 82.78% of the vote with 127,444 or 17.22% voting against.[19]

2011-2013 88th General Assembly

In his third and final term in the Arkansas House of Representatives in the 88th General Assembly in 2011, Woods took on sex offenders, increasing the penalties for sex crimes[20] and expanding notification to the public about sex offenders living in their neighborhoods.[21] He also sponsored legislation to create the Office of Health Information Technology to implement electronic health records in Arkansas[22] and co-sponsored legislation to create a state sales tax holiday weekend for families to buy school supplies.[23]

Arkansas State Senate 2013-2017

2013-2015 89th General Assembly

Woods served on the Senate Insurance and Commerce, Joint Performance Review, Public Retirement & Social Security Programs, and Judiciary committees as well as the Arkansas Legislative Council.[24] Woods sponsored Carter's Law in 2013, creating a comprehensive program of education regarding shaken baby syndrome.[25]

2015-2017 90th General Assembly

In the 90th General Assembly Woods earned the highest civilian recognition from the Arkansas National Guard, and referred his third and fourth ballot measures to the voters.[26]

Woods Endorses Trump

On March 1, 2016, former State Senator Jon Woods was the only elected official in the entire state of Arkansas to publicly endorse Donald Trump in the 2016 Republican presidential primary.  A large number of other Arkansas lawmakers held a press conference to endorse Trump’s rival, Marco Rubio, for president.[27] 

Marco Rubio’s State Chairman, State Sen. Bart Hester (R-Cave Springs) stated, “I can’t sit here and say I’m willing to vote for Donald Trump at this time.  He just doesn’t share the values that I share,” Hester said of Trump.[28]

Out of 101 elected republican legislators, constitutional officers, and members of Congress, Woods was the only one to publicly endorse Donald Trump in the 2016 Arkansas Republican presidential primary.[29]

Statement from the Trump campaign:

Senator Woods had this to say about Mr. Trump, “I support Donald Trump for the 2016 Republican Presidential bid of the United States of America. Donald Trump is a Christian Conservative who is strongly pro-life, understands the importance of the 2nd amendment, supports a limited government, is anti new taxes and loves his family and country deeply. I believe Donald Trump’s leadership as President of the United States will Make America Great Again.”

We are honored to have the support and endorsement of Senator Woods.[30]

Political Investigations

Dismissed complaint

In March 2016, Jeff Oland of Farmington, Arkansas filed a complaint with the Arkansas Ethics Commission against then State Senator Jon Woods.[31] Oland accused then State Senator Jon Woods of coordinating mailers from his previous 2012-election campaign with a conservative organization called Conservative Arkansas PAC. Oland's complaint triggered an investigation by the Arkansas Ethics Commission. After more than a dozen interviews and reviewing all the evidence, the Ethics Commission determined that there had been no violations and no laws broken. In May 2016, the Ethics Commission voted 3-0 to dismiss Mr. Oland's complaint against Woods.[32]

Wire fraud, honest services fraud, money laundering

March 1, 2017, one year to the day after being the only elected official in Arkansas to endorse Donald Trump in the Republican 2016 Republican presidential primary, Woods was indicted for his alleged collusion in a kickback scheme involving Oren Paris, III, president of Ecclesia College (a Christian college), and Randell Shelton, Jr., of Alma in Crawford County, AR. Woods' attorney, Patrick Benca, denied the allegations.[33][34] Micah Neal, a former state representative, pleaded guilty to one act of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud.[35][36][37][38] The trial was controversial due in part to the actions of the lead FBI agent, Robert Cessario, who pleaded guilty in a plea agreement on August 17, 2022, to destroying exculpatory evidence.[39][40]

One of the many trial delays was due to the destruction of evidence by FBI agent Robert Cessario. According to his own court testimony, Cessario wiped his undercover computer clean on three separate occasions since the investigation began.[41][42][43] He had it wiped once professionally at Ozark Computer Works in Bentonville, AR for $59.50 in cash on Dec. 4, 2017.[44] He then wiped it at least twice more himself.[45][46] In December, 2017 he was removed from the case and was put under investigation by the Office of Inspector General, according to court documents, and faced criminal prosecution.[47]

FBI computer wipe

Two days of pretrial hearings, January 25 and 26, 2018, laid out in detail the circumstances under which the FBI (Cessario's) computer was used to collect copies of the audio files recorded covertly by former State Representative Micah Neal.[48] Mr. Neal has denied that the government asked him to conduct the undercover audio recordings and testified that the "pen" used as the recording device was his idea.[49] However, the FBI agent improperly wiped his laptop sometime in early 2017, December 4, 2017 and then wiped it again December 7, 2017. The erasing of the files cast doubt on whether a true copy of all the files was ever provided to the defense or if the FBI had in fact requested Micah Neal conduct the recordings.[50] Thirty nine audio recordings were provided to the defense in April, 2017. Gaps in the timeline of the recordings were discovered by the defense, which led them to request that the U.S. Attorney turn over ALL of the audio recordings. This request resulted in the U.S. Attorney finding an additional 79 audio recordings in November 2017.[51] These audios contained recordings of many different people.[52] The words Mr. Neal himself used in these recordings is possibly evidence that he was actually doing the recordings on behalf of the government.[53] Upon cross examination of why FBI agent Robert Cessario wiped his laptop, the agent said it was because the government owned laptop contained his personal medical records and he didn't want those to become public. Defense attorney Patrick Benca pointed out that Robert Cessario plans a medical malpractice suit that will make his medical issues public record anyway and the excuse of wiping the laptop to prevent medical records from being made public doesn't pass the smell test. FBI agent Robert Cessario acknowledged that he does plan on suing his doctor, but said any lawsuit he files is unlikely to get the attention the Woods case has received.[54]

"Do you think what you did was proper?" asked Chad Atwell, attorney for one of Woods' co-defendants. "No. I should not have done that," Cessario replied.[55]

Micah Neal Law Firm Computer Crash

U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks wondered aloud from the bench Friday, January 26, 2018, why attorneys in the case did not get pristine copies from the computer in the law office of Neal's attorney, Shane Wilkinson of Bentonville, Arkansas.[56]

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Elser then told Judge Brooks that late Thursday, January 25, 2018, the FBI sent a computer forensics examiner to Shane Wilkinson's office to make copies of specific files. Mr. Elser then submitted a flash drive to the court which he said contained those specific files. However, upon cross-examination (by the defense) of the expert who collected the copies, it was only then revealed that the files were not taken from the law firm's original hard drive that had stored the audio directly from Neal. The expert had been informed by Mr. Wilkinson's paralegal, Karri Layton, that the hard drive crashed on December 27, 2017, and the whole computer had been replaced, which gives the appearance of a coverup between Micah Neal's attorney Shane Wilkinson and the FBI and the Department of Justice.[57]

Defense Attorney Chad Atwell of Fayetteville conducted the cross-examination of FBI computer forensics examiner, Rebecca Passmore. It was during this lengthy cross examination that Ms. Passmore revealed the Dec. 27 crash and that the original hard drive was nowhere to be found. "I am at a loss for words," Atwell said, when asked for comment after the hearing. "Our pristine copy just went up in smoke," said defense attorney Shelly Koehler of Fayetteville.[58]

It was ordered by the court that an investigation be conducted on Feb. 7, 2018, with the help of FBI computer forensics expert, Amy Corrigan, to search for the original hard drive to Wilkinson's law office computer. It was later revealed that attorney Shane Wilkinson had his hard drive replaced at Megabyte in Bentonville, Arkansas and that Megabyte had backed up his hard drive. Once the backup was reviewed an additional audio was recovered that the DOJ and defense had never heard. In all, 39 audios were given to the defense in April 2017, 79 additional audios in November 2017, and one audio was discovered in February 2018 for a total of 119 audio files (140 hours) which were covertly recorded by Micah Neal.[59]

Conviction

After nearly four weeks of trial and two days of jury deliberations, on May 3, 2018, Woods was found guilty of fifteen federal counts for soliciting and accepting kickbacks for the distribution of government funds. He was found guilty of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, twelve counts of wire fraud, and money laundering.[60] Woods was sentenced by Judge Timothy Brooks to 220 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $1.6 million in restitution on September 6, 2018.[61] Brooks ordered Woods to serve less than the Federal sentencing guidelines, which called for a term between 324–405 months.[62]

FBI Agent Pleads Guilty, and Sentenced

On August 17, 2022, Robert Cessario signed a plea agreement stating he was guilty of corrupt destruction of record in an official proceeding.[63][64]

Robert Cessario was the lead FBI investigator in the Jon Woods case. The defense wanted to call Cessario as their first witness but the government filed a flurry of motions to prevent Cessario from testifying for the defense. Cessario was eventually allowed to take the stand but the defense was limited to the questions allowed by Judge Brooks, strictly prohibiting questions about the destruction of his laptop.[65] The jury never knew that Cessario destroyed his official work laptop. All of this information was learned during the pre trial phase, and the defense and prosecution were ordered by Judge Timothy Brooks to not bring it up in any way in the presence of the jury.[66][67] As stated in his plea agreement, Cessario erased the laptop hard drive so that it could not be used in the Jon Woods trial.[68][69][70] Cessario could have received up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. On January 5, 2023, he was sentenced to 6 months home confinement without a monitor, followed by a three year probation period, and a $25,000 fine.[71]

Appeal to the Eighth Circuit

Following conviction, Woods stated his intent to appeal his conviction to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.[72]

Woods appealed his trial to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, arguing that the district court erred in denying Woods' motion to dismiss based on the destruction of data by the FBI. On October 16, 2020, the Circuit Court affirmed the district court's conviction, finding that the destroyed evidence lacked exculpatory value and that the information was available by other means.[73]

In April 2022, Woods filed a new appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.[74] It was unanimously rejected on August 31, 2022; the panel held that “the purportedly newly discovered evidence buttressed rather than rebutted the case against Woods and was immaterial or previously available”.[75][76]

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL)

NACDL is a professional organization in the United States that advocates for justice and due process for people accused of crimes or other misconduct.[77]

The NACDL wrote an Amicus Curiae Brief to the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of Mr. Woods and his co-defendant stating that the conviction must be reversed and the charges must be thrown out due to due process violations.

The 8th Circuit Court of Appeals stated that the burden of proof falls on the defendant to prove what was on the destroyed government issued laptop.  The NACDL said:  

"This case involves an important question of criminal law: Under the Due Process Clause of the United States Constitution, what is the appropriate remedy when a government agent acts in shocking bad faith, intentionally “wiping” his government-issued, undercover laptop computer instead of delivering it for a forensic evaluation as instructed by the Judge?  The Court found that the agent acted in bad faith and violated Appellant’s due process rights, but nevertheless fashioned a remedy short of dismissal. The remedy given by the Court wasn’t nearly sufficient to (a) satisfy the defendant’s right to seek and discover potentially exculpatory evidence; (b) punish the government for wrongful conduct in this case, or (c) deter wrongful conduct in future cases by similarly situated government agents or entities.  This issue strikes at the heart of the due process guarantee and the fairness of the justice system.

For these reasons, this Court should send a clear message that conduct like that of Agent Cessario will not be tolerated in this Circuit, and that a defendant’s right to examine all potentially useful evidence is of such importance that a government agent’s shocking bad faith act of destroying such evidence will weigh in favor of vindicating the Constitutional rights of the individual accused over the rights of the public in seeing crime prosecuted, however unfairly. This Court should reverse the decision of the District Court, and remand this case with instructions to dismiss the indictment."[78]

Lead Prosecutor Resigns

On Sept. 22, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Dak Kees to be the US Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, based off of the recommendation of former Attorney General Jeff Sessions (who Trump later fired) and former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who later resigned.[79][80][81]

During the sentencing of Jon Woods, Kees recommended to Obama appointed Judge Timothy Brooks that Woods serve 33 years and 9 months (405 months) for not cooperating.  

Kees did not prosecute Agent Robert Cessario when he destroyed his government issued laptop.  Instead, the investigation of Robert Cessario was picked up by the OIG Office of Inspector General out of Dallas, TX.  

On Jan. 17, 2020, U S Attorney Dak Kees resigned due to an ongoing investigation of unethical conduct.  It was later determined by an OIG investigation which became public, that Dak Kees was having an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate during the Jon Woods investigation and trial in 2018.[82] [83] Following are several excerpts from the heavily redacted OIG report: [84]

  • The employee told investigators that at one point when she declined a kiss from Kees while riding in an elevator with him, Kees said “you do know I’m in charge of your promotions, right?”  
  • The subordinate told investigators that she had text messages from Kees that would be “damaging and embarrassing.”
  • Kees tried to block the firing of another employee who had committed additional acts of misconduct because he felt this employee “had something they could hold over his head.”
  • Most of the kissing would occur at the end of the day when Kees would close the blinds in his office and would stand in the doorway and invite her in. She stated that towards the end she felt great anxiety when Kees asked for intimate contact.  She said that she knew Kees was going to call her into his office for a kiss when she heard him lowering his metal window blinds and that the sound of the metal blinds lowering filled her with anxiety. The employee was given a pay cut and demoted which she felt was retaliation for her ending the relationship, which Kees denied.
  • Unless otherwise noted, the OIG applies the preponderance of the evidence standard in determining whether DOJ personnel have committed misconduct. Kees stated that the relationship was mutual.
  • The subordinate ended the inappropriate relationship in September, 2018, the same month Woods was sentenced.
  • The OIG report states that Kees resigned upon learning about the investigation.  On Jan. 3, 2020, Kees informed (redacted) of his decision to resign, effective Jan. 17, and on Jan. 6, Kees informed the office that he would be resigning.  On Jan. 8, the OIG contacted Kees requesting an interview, and was interviewed on Jan. 16.  Kees last day in office was Jan. 17, 2020.

In recent years, President Trump has publicly stated that he was given bad advice regarding his hiring decisions.  “Now I know them all. I know the tough ones and the weak ones and the dumb ones, and we know the strong ones.”[85]

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin appointed Kees to the state's Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission, an agency that investigates judges for violations of the state's judicial code of conduct.  In May, 2024, Kees resigned from the Commission when the OIG report findings became public.[86][87]

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Lawsuit

According to court documents, the Department of Justice has refused to comply with FOIA laws regarding the OIG’s investigation findings of Special Agent Robert Cessario. Failing to comply with federal law resulted in a lawsuit being filed by journalists Doug and Lisa Thompson.[88][89]

Lisa Thompson is the Executive Editor of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette and current Editor.  Doug Thompson is the political reporter and Enterprise Editor for the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette.  On Aug. 8, 2022, the Thompson’s sent a FOIA request seeking records on the findings and final recommendation of charges in the investigation of Agent Robert Cessario.  Two months later, on Oct 17, 2022, the FOIA request was denied. [90] Two months later, again, an appeal to the FOIA request was denied on Dec. 22, 2022.  Approximately eighteen months later on April 9, 2024, Doug Thompson received correspondence from the FBI that 3,783 pages of “potentially responsive records were found and that it would take 67 months to complete processing of the records.”[91]  

This delay resulted in a lawsuit being filed by the journalists stating “the FBI has violated the FOIA by failing to make a determination to the request within 20 working days.” [92]

[93]On Nov. 26, 2024, Judge Timothy Brooks said the agency must start producing documents in batches with the first 500 pages to be released by the end of the year.[94][95]  

Election History

Arkansas State Senate District 7 Nov 6, 2012
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Jon Woods 15,110 64.76
Democratic Diana Gonzales Worthen 8,221 35.24
Arkansas State Senate District 7 Primary May 22, 2012
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Jon Woods 2,784 51.58
Republican Bill Pritchard 2,613 48.42
State Representative District 093 Primary May 23, 2006
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Republican Jon Woods 1106 57.16
Republican Kathy McFetridge 829 42.84

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