Arnold Jones' trial set for Oct. 17
By Ethan Smith
Published in News on September 23, 2016 9:57 AM
Judge Arnold Jones
Wayne County Superior Court Judge Arnold O. Jones' trial on charges of allegedly bribing an FBI task force officer to obtain copies of text messages between his wife and another man is set to begin on Oct. 17 in Wilmington, according to court documents filed Wednesday.
The jury selection for Jones' trial will begin on Oct. 3, the documents read.
Geoff Hulse, one of Jones' attorneys, said Jones will enter a plea of not guilty when his trial begins.
A federal indictment against Jones for allegedly trying to bribe an officer working for the FBI to obtain copies of text messages between his wife and another man was handed down on Nov. 3, 2015.
A superseding indictment was filed on Aug. 23 that replaced the original indictment but maintains the same charges against Jones.
The three-count indictment alleges that Jones promised a payment of a bribe to a public official, promised a payment of a gratuity to a public official and attempted to corruptly influence an official proceeding.
The officer Jones allegedly attempted to bribe is an employee of the Wayne County Sheriff's Office to which the Attorney General of the United States made a special appointment, designating him as a special deputy U.S. marshal.
The special deputation appointment authorized the officer to support FBI investigations into allegations of violations of Title 18 of the United States Criminal Code, and expressly authorized the officer to seek and execute search warrants, which Jones allegedly asked the officer to do in order to obtain copies of the text messages between his wife and another man, according to court documents filed Sept. 12.
According to the documents, neither Jones nor the officer had any evidence to cause them to believe either phone number -- Jones' wife's or the other man's -- were involved in any criminal activity.
But, regardless of this, Jones allegedly still asked the officer to secure a search warrant to obtain the text messages between the two numbers and allegedly offered to pay the officer $100 in exchange for a disk containing copies of the messages.
Jones then allegedly arranged to meet the FBI officer on Nov. 3, 2015, and pay him $100 in exchange for a disk containing the text messages.
During the process of requesting the text messages, Jones allegedly told the officer that the officer's involvement in getting the messages for Jones would "never come out," the documents read.
According to the documents, Jones told the officer "I will be so cool about it...I will handle it in such a way...this will never come out. I promise."
On Nov. 3, 2015, Jones met the officer at the Wayne County Courthouse to complete the exchange.
"Jones stepped out of court wearing his black judicial robe and met with the FBI officer in a hallway," the documents filed Sept. 12 read. "Jones delivered to the FBI officer $100 in cash. In return, the FBI officer delivered to Jones an FBI disk that was represented to contain the text messages requested by Jones."
According to the documents, the encounter was captured on "devices capable of recording audio and video."
The documents go on to say that Jones attempted to access text messages purportedly on the disk throughout the day of Nov. 3, 2015, seeking technical assistance from an unnamed individual.
Jones was unable to access or receive any unlawfully-obtained text messages, the documents say.
"On the morning of November 4, 2015, at the time of his arrest, an FBI agent asked Jones the whereabouts of the disk, stating, 'Where is my CD judge?' Jones responded, 'CD?' The FBI agent then confronted Jones with a still image taken at the time Jones exchanged the cash for the disk and stated, "This is yesterday where you paid us $100 for the CD.' Jones responded, "That's not what I did, but OK,'" the documents read.
Hulse said Jones has maintained his innocence from the start.
"He is asking people to believe in the presumption of innocence, just as he has when he has had people who have been charged with crimes in his court," Hulse said.