Gosses sentenced to prison in Preferred Healthare bribery and kickback saga

by Talk Business & Politics staff (staff2@talkbusiness.net)

Bontiea Goss and Tommy Goss on Monday (April 29) sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a multimillion-dollar public corruption scheme that involved embezzlement and bribes paid to multiple elected public officials in Arkansas.

Bontiea Goss, 65, was sentenced to three years in prison, and her husband, Tommy Goss, 68, was sentenced to six years in prison. They also were ordered to jointly pay $4.35 million in forfeiture and restitution.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Bontiea and Tom were the former chief operating officer and chief financial officer, respectively, at Preferred Family Healthcare, a charity that provided services to individuals in Missouri, Arkansas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Illinois. Some of these services included mental and behavioral health treatment and counseling, substance abuse treatment and counseling, employment assistance, aid to individuals with developmental disabilities, and medical services.

Gosses sentenced to prison in Preferred Healthare bribery and kickback saga

Former Arkansas judge Mike Maggio released from federal prison

KUAR | By Debra Hale-Shelton/ Arkansas Nonprofit News Network

Former Faulkner County Circuit Judge Mike Maggio has been released from federal prison after serving less than half of a 10-year sentence for bribery.

The development is the latest in a long-running and complex criminal case that dates back to 2014 and that has entangled a once-powerful Republican lobbyist, a wealthy nursing home owner, an Arkansas Supreme Court justice and others. Maggio was accused of reducing the amount of money a jury awarded in a 2013 civil case he presided over as a judge and expecting campaign donations in return.

Maggio, 60, was freed Wednesday, according to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons’ website. Since he was first incarcerated on July 19, 2017, he has been held in facilities in Kentucky, Atlanta and other undisclosed places.

https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/local-regional-news/2021-10-23/former-arkansas-judge-mike-maggio-released-from-federal-prison

Brian Chilson/Arkansas Nonprofit News Network

Former Faulkner County Circuit Judge Mike Maggio leaving the federal courthouse in Little Rock after his sentencing in 2016.

Former Arkansas Judge, Now Serving Prison Time, Testifies In Bribery Trial

By DEBRA HALE-SHELTON/ ARKANSAS NONPROFIT NEWS NETWORK

A nursing home magnate, one of Arkansas’s highest-ranking jurists and a former judge in shackles were among witnesses in the first week of the federal bribery trial of former lobbyist Gilbert Baker.

Prosecutors sought to weave an intricate tale of political ambition and greed while the defense focused on a key witness’ lack of credibility. Both sides struggled at times to jog witnesses’ memories of events that happened as far back as 2013 and 2014.

Baker, a former state senator from Conway and former chairman of the state Republican Party, is charged with bribery, wire fraud and conspiracy. He is accused of being the middleman in an alleged plot to bribe former Faulkner County Circuit Judge Michael Maggio on behalf of Michael Morton, a wealthy nursing-home owner and campaign financier. Maggio is now serving a 10-year sentence in federal prison after pleading guilty to accepting a bribe.

https://www.ualrpublicradio.org/post/former-arkansas-judge-now-serving-prison-time-testifies-bribery-trial

Former Faulkner County Circuit Judge Michael Maggio in 2016 at the U.S. District Courthouse in Little Rock.

CREDIT BRIAN CHILSON / ARKANSAS NONPROFIT NEWS NETWORK