Superior Court Judge Jones indicted
By John Joyce
Published in News on November 4, 2015 1:46 PM
Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Arnold O. Jones II appeared in federal court in Raleigh this morning to answer an indictment handed down Tuesday charging him with offering a bribe to an FBI agent.
Jones is charged with one count each of promising to pay a bribe to a public official, promising and paying a gratuity to a public official and corruptly attempting to influence an official proceeding.
If convicted, Jones could face a maximum combined sentence of 37 years in prison and a $750,000 fine.
U.S. Attorney's Office public information officer Don Connelly sat in on Jones' first appearance in federal court this morning and said he made no statements other than to answer the federal judge.
"He just answered the judge's questions and signed an agreement to abide by the conditions of release," Connelly said.
The government did not seek detention, so Jones was free to go after the proceeding.
"He was read his charges, what the maximum punishments were and explained his rights," Connelly said.
Jones said he understood his rights and that he would retain his own counsel.
According to the indictment, on or about Oct. 10, Jones sent a text message to the FBI agent asking that agent to "get access to" text messages shared between two undisclosed phone numbers and to "get copies of those messages."
Unless a law enforcement agency has a warrant, most cell phone carriers do not disclose such records, the indictment said. The FBI agent had no evidence to support securing a warrant and told Jones so. Jones, who is also the chair of the N.C. Innocence Commission, responded by saying the messages were "just for (him)."
Jones told the agent he wanted the information kept secret and that the messages involved family and he did not want anyone to know, according to the indictment.
On Oct. 27, during a secret meeting in a vehicle with Jones, the agent said he needed him to confirm the phone numbers again before going to see a magistrate. Jones promised the agent his involvement would "never come out."
Jones told the agent to name his fee for the service he was providing, telling the agent he would be "glad to do something" for his having taken the time to help him out.
The agent responded by asking for a couple of cases of beer. The next day, Oct. 28., the agent told Jones he had obtained a warrant for the text messages Jones was seeking and that he would get back in touch with Jones when he had the messages in hand. On Nov. 2, the agent again made contact with Jones.
Jones agreed to shred the FBI disk containing the messages as soon as possible, the indictment said. On Nov. 3. Jones told the agent he had his "paycheck" in the back seat of his vehicle. Jones and the agent then coordinated a meeting to exchange the FBI disk containing the text messages for the cases of beer. During these discussions, Jones agreed to include a cash payment of $100 along with the beer.
Later that day, the two did meet and an exchange took place of the $100 in cash for the disk represented to have contained the text messages Jones asked for, the indictment said.
A press release issued this morning by the U.S. Attorney's Office confirmed Jones' arrest. He faces both fines and potential jail time if convicted, Connelly said.
"He will have an initial appearance this morning. The next step after that will be an arraignment, but it is too soon to know when that will be," Connelly said.
If convicted on each count, Jones would face a maximum fine of $250,000 per count, plus a maximum jail sentence of 25, 2, and 20 years on each respective charge, Connelly said.