Arkansas

Arkansas judge convicted of lying to feds about seeking sex with defendant’s girlfriend

Published

1 year ago

September 4, 2024

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Arkansas judge convicted of lying to feds about seeking sex with defendant’s girlfriend

A jury found Thomas David Carruth guilty of making false statements to the FBI about using his position to seek sexual favors from a woman whose boyfriend had a case before the Monroe County District.

A former Arkansas judge was found guilty of lying to federal investigators about trying to extort a defendant’s girlfriend for sex or a “lingerie show,” the Department of Justice announced Tuesday.

A jury found Thomas David Carruth guilty of making false statements to the FBI about using his position to seek sexual favors from a woman whose boyfriend had a case before the Monroe County District Court elected judge. The woman secretly recorded the judge’s comments and turned the tape over to the FBI.

The woman Carruth failed to extort recorded his not-so-subtle solicitations and shared them with law enforcement, according to a federal indictment in the Eastern District of Arkansas.

“I got one area I want to explore with you,” Carruth tells her in the recording when discussing how to help her boyfriend with his case according to the indictment, “and I don’t know how you’re gonna react. Um… how do you feel about sex?”

The recording stands in stark contrast to the former judge’s statements to the FBI that he didn’t “even [think] about” sex with the woman.

The former judge already had a tainted record: The Arkansas Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission admonished Carruth in 2018 for creating the appearance of impropriety after an inquiry into allegations similar to those of the woman who recorded Carruth asking her for sex.

Carruth faces a maximum of five years in prison for the charge. A sentencing hearing has not been scheduled. The 64-year-old was acquitted of charges of bribery, honest services fraud, and violations of the Travel Act, according to the Justice Department.

He was first arrested and charged in January 2023, officials said. Carruth resigned sometime after the FBI raided his house in June 2023, according to reporting by The Monroe County Argus.

Jeffrey M. Rosenzweig, Carruth’s attorney, thanked the jury in response to a request for comment.

“We are grateful for the jury’s wisdom in seeing through the duplicative and tenuous charges that the government chose to bring,” Rosenzweig said. “We recognize that the jury thought through the decision to convict on the one charge, although we respectfully disagree with the result they reached.”

‘Do you have any nice lingerie?’

The 28-minute phone recording on April 18, 2022, of the woman’s conversation with the judge shows a matter-of-fact approach to sexual extortion.

She had approached him about a separate issue when he offered to help with her boyfriend’s criminal case, according to an indictment.

The man was hoping for an early trial date to make sure he didn’t violate a parole order and Carruth offered to oblige if he got something in return.

“I’d prefer not [to] have to in order to get this done,” the woman told the judge when he broached the topic of sex, court papers say.

“”The next step back,” he said on the recording, “is… do you have any nice lingerie?”

Carruth persisted when she refused to give a “lingerie show”: “What you’re buying is we’re going to try to shorten those timeframes,” he said, referring to the man’s trial, according to court documents.

She shared the tape with law enforcement and when contacted by the FBI, Carruth flatly denied seeking sex with the woman, saying he didn’t “even [think] about” sex with her, the Justice Department said.

Tainted record

Carruth’s dealings with women have been suspect since shortly after he was first elected to the post in 2012.

Less than 10,000 people live in Monroe County, a rural jurisdiction about 90 miles east of Little Rock, and in such small towns it’s not uncommon for people with business at the courthouse to approach the judge, the Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission wrote in its 2018 admonishment of Carruth.

Under the small town circumstances, the commission expects judges to be particularly vigilant to avoid discussing court business inappropriately but Carruth was accused of doing so for years, the commission wrote.

The admonishment does not detail the extrajudicial discussions but according to the federal indictment they involved seeking sex from women who had cases before him.

Carruth denied the allegations but the commission admonished him for conduct that allowed such a cloud of suspicion to arise in the first place.

“Even assuming the truth of your assertion, the number, times and circumstances of your contacts created an appearance of impropriety,” the commission wrote. “The judiciary cannot exist without the trust and confidence of the people. The confidence is maintained when judges endeavor to follow the Code of Judicial Conduct while they remain faithful to the law.”

The commission decided not to sanction Carruth beyond making the admonishment public.

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Arkansas

Arkansas High School Football Rankings: Top 25 Teams – Oct. 28

Published

14 hours ago

October 28, 2025

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Arkansas High School Football Rankings: Top 25 Teams – Oct. 28

The Arkansas high school football high school football season is nearing its end and the Bryant Hornets remain in the top spot Top 25 rankings.

Besides the Hornets, who else makes the cut for the Top 25 high school football teams list out of Arkansas?

From established powers to emerging programs, here are the top 25 teams in the Natural State, according to Massey.

The Massey Ratings, officially used during the BCS era, is a model that ranks sports teams by analyzing game outcomes, strength of schedule, and margin of victory as of Oct. 28.

1. Bryant Hornets

Bryant (8-0) has maintained the top spot in the Arkansas high school football rankings throughout the season as the head to the regular season finish line. Hornets up next will face North Little Rock (3-5) this Friday night.

The Hornets most recent win was a 49-3 decision over Cabot as they have two games remaining.

All the question marks on offense have been checked off as the Hornets have begun a new era behind center with Kyler Shelby, who saw limited game action in 2024 as a sophomore last season while playing behind Jordan Walker.

2. Bentonville Tigers

Bentonville (9-0) is coming off a tight victory over No. 4 Rogers, with the Tigers winning 31-28.

The 5-time state champion Tigers are coming off a 9-4 campaign and needing to replace plenty of starters on both sides of the ball. Bentonville is armed with a pair of Arkansas commitments in four-star wide receiver Dequane Prevo and three-star Blair Irvin.

The Tigers finish the regular season with games against Springdale and Bentonville West.

3. Greenwood Bulldogs

Greenwood Bulldogs (8-0) having the state’s best quarterback in Kane Archer certainly helps and the Bulldogs boasting the UCF commit behind center makes them dangerous every Friday night on offense.

Archer has made the argument to being the state’s Most Valuable Player as the senior signal caller, with the future Knight completing 172 of 227 passes for 2,141 yards and 18 touchdowns.

The Bulldogs finishes off the season with Southside and No. 11 Mountain Home.

4. Rogers Mountaineers

The Rogers Mountaineers (7-1) are coming off a narrow 31-28 loss to Bentonville last week, but remain in the Top 5 of this week’s rankings.

The Mountaineers’ defense has been solid all season long behind the play of BYU commitment Braxton Lindsey, who leads a defensive unit that’s only yielded. Rogers closes out the regular season with games against Har-Ber and Rogers Heritage.

5. Conway Wampus Cats

Conway (7-1) started the season off with an offensive explosion as they defeated Jonesboro in a 68-37 shootout.

The Wampus Cats feature a couple of the state’s top players in three-star safety Tay Lockett (Arkansas commit) and interior offensive lineman Isaiah Bowman (Arkansas State commit). Lockett is already making an impact on both sides of the ball as Conway has become a viable state title contender.

Last week, Conway won another offensive shootout, 61-38, over Pulaski Academy. This Friday night the Wampus Cats take on Little Rock Christian Academy.

6. Benton (6-2)
7. Shiloh Christian (7-2)
8. Bentonville West (6-2)
9. Joe T. Robinson (8-0)
10. Fayetteville (4-4)

11. Mountain Home (7-1)
12. Little Rock Christian Academy (6-2)
13. Parkview Magnet (5-3)
14. Greenbrier (8-0)
15. Lakeside (7-1)

16. Arkadelphia (7-1)
17. Sylvan Hills (7-1)
18. Pulaski Academy (2-6)
19. Hot Springs (7-1)
20. Jonesboro (4-4)

21. El Dorado (5-3)
22. Farmington (6-2)
23. Searcy (7-1)
24. Har-Ber (3-5)
25. North Little Rock (3-5)

For Arkansas high school football fans, staying updated on the action is now easier than ever with the Rivals High School Scoreboard. This comprehensive resource provides real-time updates and final scores from across the state, ensuring you never miss a moment of the Friday night frenzy. From nail-biting finishes to dominant performances, the Rivals High School Scoreboard is your one-stop destination for tracking all the gridiron excitement in the Natural State.

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Arkansas Foodbank bracing for disruption in SNAP benefits

Published

1 day ago

October 27, 2025

Press Room

Arkansas Foodbank bracing for disruption in SNAP benefits

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The ongoing federal government shutdown is impacting funding for programs like SNAP, and organizations like the Arkansas Foodbank are preparing for a surge in those needing support.

“SNAP is a critical program that helps ensure families all across our state have access to nutritious foods, and even a brief disruption is problematic,” DHS Secretary Janet Mann said in a statement. “Arkansans have a history of coming together to help each other in difficult times. Please check on friends, family, and neighbors and donate time or money to food banks if you are able.”

The Arkansas Foodbank supports 400 partner pantries from urban centers to rural towns. Marketing and Communications Director Sarah Jenkins said they’re rolling out toolkits to help them meet the surge, everything from extra fundraising to extended distribution hours.

“If we made everyone come to Little Rock to go to a mobile distribution, we wouldn’t be able to meet the need, that’s why we’re pushing everyone out to our 400 partner agencies,” Jenkins said.

The Arkansas DHS said it is awaiting additional guidance from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which administers SNAP. The USDA announced it will not issue November benefits unless the federal government reopens, after the Trump administration declined to release $5 billion in contingency funds that would have extended the program.

SNAP, which helps one in eight Americans buy groceries, is a lifeline that also extends to the 240,000 recipients across Arkansas, where food insecurity is among the worst in the nation.

“For every one meal that we can provide, SNAP provides nine,” Jenkins said. SNAP is also great because it provides dignity to the people using it.”

The organization says it’s ready for the short term, but cannot fill the federal gap alone for a state where one in four children does not have reliable access to food.

“We do have to have both community support but also government support,” Jenkins said. “The government has to reopen to support the neighbors that we serve, so we don’t have a timeline on what we can do.”

Last year, the food bank distributed more than 41 million pounds of food, but with SNAP halted, they say every donation counts.

For updates, Arkansans can visit the DHS SNAP website at HumanServices.Arkansas.gov.

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Arkansas

Arkansas educators report more engagement, less bullying after schools go phone-free | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Published

2 days ago

October 27, 2025

Press Room

Arkansas educators report more engagement, less bullying after schools go phone-free | Arkansas Democrat Gazette

Dmitry Martirosov

Dmitry Martirosov is a reporter covering K-12 education for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. He writes about the issues affecting students, teachers and families and has a particular interest in transparency, as well as the day-to-day political battles over education. Before joining the Democrat-Gazette, he covered government and politics in Charlottesville, Virginia, and was a political reporter based in Columbia, Missouri, where he covered the state legislature in Jefferson City. He is a graduate of the University of Missouri, where he studied journalism and political science.

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