Jon Woods

Jon Woods
Born	(1977-08-23) August 23, 1977 Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Politician, musician
Years active	2007–2017 (politics)
Known for	Arkansas House of Representatives and Arkansas Senate member; musician in A Good Fight; convicted on federal corruption charges

Jonathan Earl Woods (born August 23, 1977), commonly referred to as Jon Woods, is a former American politician and musician. He held office as a Republican representative in both the Arkansas House of Representatives and the Arkansas Senate, serving within the Arkansas General Assembly.

In 2018, Woods was found guilty on several federal counts, including political corruption, wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering. He received an 18-year sentence in federal prison.

Early life and education

Born on August 23, 1977, in Charlotte, North Carolina, Woods's family relocated to Blytheville, Arkansas in 1979. He attended public schools in Gosnell, Arkansas, where he engaged in football, basketball, and track. Under the guidance of Arkansas State Representative Ann Bush—whose family owned part of Bush's Baked Beans—Woods joined the Boy Scouts of America and attained the rank of Eagle Scout.

In 1993, following his father's employment with Allen Canning, Woods moved to Siloam Springs, Arkansas. During high school, he attended basketball camp at John Brown University and took part in the Arkansas Boys State program. He was active in athletics and pursued private vocal training at John Brown University while working as a lifeguard and swim instructor.

Woods completed high school in 1996 and earned Associate degrees in Arts and Science (Business) from Northwest Arkansas Community College. He then obtained a Bachelor of Arts in Business Administration with a concentration in Marketing Management from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville's Sam M. Walton College of Business in 2002. While at university, he participated in student government, led the College Republicans, interned at the Arkansas Small Business and Technology Development Center, joined the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, and played intramural sports.

In addition to his academic and political pursuits, Woods developed skills in guitar, bass, drums, and vocals—abilities that would later contribute to his music career.

Music career

Growing up in the Arkansas Delta, Woods and his brother Dustin were inspired by the nearby music culture of Memphis, Tennessee, particularly events held on Mud Island during the 1980s and 1990s. After relocating to Siloam Springs, Arkansas in 1993, Dustin formed two bands while still in high school; Jon concentrated more on his political interests and sports activities.

In 2004, Jon and Dustin Woods teamed up with Sean Marriott to establish the pop-rock group A Good Fight. The band’s name derives from a passage in II Timothy 4:7 and serves as a tribute to a deceased friend. In 2006, Eddie Love joined as lead singer. They produced two albums: The City Could Be Ours By Morning (2008) and A Good Fight (2010). Their tracks were featured on various MTV reality programs and included in the video game MLB 13: The Show for the Sony PlayStation 4. The band also appeared at prominent festivals such as the SXSW Music Festival held in Austin, Texas.

During his legislative tenure in 2009, Woods championed HB1837 (Act 497), which designated a section of Highway 67 as the "Rock 'N' Roll Highway" to celebrate northeastern Arkansas’s rich musical legacy and promote tourism. This route is associated with legendary musicians like Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Carl Perkins.

Woods further advocated for moving the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame from its location at the Pine Bluff Convention Center to Little Rock’s River Market District to increase its visibility. The Hall contains artifacts related to Arkansas’s musicians and entertainers.

In 2011, Woods produced The Plaid Jackets’ first album titled The New Adventures of the Plaid Jackets, Vol. 1, which included the track "Adam West is Batman," later featured in the documentary Starring Adam West.

Political career

Woods held office in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 2007 until 2013, followed by service in the Arkansas Senate from 2013 through 2017. Throughout his tenure, he successfully sponsored more than 100 bills that were enacted into law and played a key role in founding multiple task forces and commissions. Upon reaching term limits in the House, he sought election to the State Senate representing District 7, which includes areas such as Springdale, Tontitown, Goshen, Elkins, Durham, sections of Fayetteville, and the eastern portion of Washington County. In 2015, Woods received recognition from the American Red Cross for administering CPR to a visitor at the Arkansas State Capitol.

86th General Assembly (2007–2009)

During this session, Woods advocated for legislation that created Arkansas' inaugural umbilical cord blood bank aimed at collecting stem cells for research purposes. For this effort, he was honored with the "Invest in Life" award alongside Senator Johnny Key.

87th General Assembly (2009–2011)

Woods served as chair of the Technology Committee during this period and sponsored a constitutional amendment to protect hunting and fishing rights within Arkansas. This amendment was approved by voters in the 2010 election.

88th General Assembly (2011–2013)

In this term, Woods introduced bills to strengthen penalties related to sex offenses, improve public notification systems concerning offenders, and promote the adoption of electronic health records through the Office of Health Information Technology. Additionally, he co-sponsored legislation establishing a state sales tax holiday on school supplies.

89th General Assembly (2013–2015)

As a senator, Woods participated on committees such as Insurance and Commerce, Judiciary, and the Arkansas Legislative Council. He was the sponsor of Carter’s Law, which focuses on raising awareness about shaken baby syndrome.

90th General Assembly (2015–2017)

During his final legislative session, Woods earned a civilian commendation from the Arkansas National Guard and supported ballot measures including a constitutional amendment regarding state-issued bonds.

Political positions

On March 1, 2016, Woods distinguished himself as the sole elected official in Arkansas to publicly endorse Donald Trump during the 2016 Republican presidential primary; in contrast, other state lawmakers backed Marco Rubio. Among 101 Republican legislators and officials statewide, Woods uniquely supported Trump’s candidacy.

Senator Bart Hester, who served as Marco Rubio’s State Chairman, voiced concerns about Trump’s values. The Trump campaign spotlighted Woods’ endorsement by quoting him lauding Trump as a Christian Conservative committed to pro-life causes, Second Amendment rights, limited government principles, and anti-tax policies—emphasizing that Trump's leadership would "Make America Great Again."

Dismissed complaint

In March 2016, Jeff Oland from Farmington, Arkansas lodged a complaint with the Arkansas Ethics Commission accusing then-State Senator Jon Woods of coordinating campaign mailers with Conservative Arkansas PAC during his 2012 election campaign. Following an investigation that included interviews and examination of evidence, the commission unanimously dismissed the complaint in May 2016 with a 3–0 vote finding no ethics violations.

Charges and Allegations

On March 1, 2017, a federal grand jury brought indictments against Jon Woods and two associates, accusing them of orchestrating a scheme to deprive Arkansas residents of honest services through bribery. The charges named Senator Woods, Ecclesia College President Oren Paris III, and Randell Shelton Jr. as participants in directing state General Improvement Fund monies to organizations selected by Woods. Woods’ legal counsel firmly rejected these accusations.

In a related case, Arkansas State Representative Micah Neal faced similar charges and subsequently pled guilty to conspiracy involving honest services fraud.

Court Proceedings

The initial trial date for Woods' federal criminal case was scheduled for May 8, 2017; however, it was postponed to December 8, 2017, due to anticipated additional indictments. The trial was further delayed until April 9, 2018.

One cause for delay involved FBI agent Robert Cessario’s destruction of evidence. Cessario admitted to wiping his undercover laptop on three occasions during the investigation. The first erasure was performed professionally at Ozark Computer Works in Bentonville on December 4, 2017, costing $59.50; he then personally wiped it at least twice more. Following these actions, Cessario was removed from the case in December 2017 and became subject to an Office of Inspector General inquiry with potential criminal consequences. On August 17, 2022, he entered a guilty plea for destroying exculpatory evidence.

FBI Laptop Wiping Incident

Pretrial hearings held on January 25-26, 2018 revealed that FBI agent Robert Cessario’s government-issued laptop had been utilized to store covert audio recordings made by former State Representative Micah Neal. Neal denied that the government directed the recordings, asserting that the idea originated with him. Nevertheless, Cessario’s unauthorized deletion of data from his laptop twice in December 2017 raised concerns about whether the defense received all relevant files or if the FBI influenced Neal’s recording activities.

Initially, defense counsel received 39 audio recordings in April 2017. After detecting gaps, they requested all recordings, which led to the discovery of an additional 79 tapes in November of the same year. These files involved numerous individuals and potentially suggested that Neal acted under government direction.

When questioned about why he wiped his laptop, Cessario stated it was to safeguard personal medical records stored on the device. Defense attorney Patrick Benca challenged this justification by highlighting that Cessario intended to file a medical malpractice lawsuit that would publicly reveal those records anyway. Cessario conceded that wiping the laptop was improper but believed his lawsuit would attract less scrutiny than the Woods case.

Asked directly if his conduct was appropriate, Cessario replied, "No. I should not have done that."

Micah Neal’s Law Firm Computer Failure

During a hearing on January 26, 2018, U.S. District Judge Timothy Brooks questioned why pristine copies were not obtained from the computer at Neal’s attorney Shane Wilkinson’s law office in Bentonville.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Elser explained that an FBI forensic examiner visited Wilkinson’s office on January 25 to extract specific files and transferred them via flash drive. However, under cross-examination it emerged these files were not sourced from the original hard drive containing Neal’s audio recordings. The examiner learned from Wilkinson’s paralegal that the original hard drive had crashed on December 27, 2017 and had been replaced—raising suspicions about potential concealment involving Wilkinson, the FBI, and the Department of Justice.

Defense attorney Chad Atwell extensively questioned FBI examiner Rebecca Passmore who confirmed both the hard drive failure and absence of the original device. Defense counsel expressed frustration over losing access to what should have been a "pristine copy."

On February 7, 2018, the court ordered an investigation assigning FBI expert Amy Corrigan to locate the missing original hard drive. It was eventually discovered that Wilkinson had replaced his hard drive at Megabyte in Bentonville where data backups were maintained. Examination of this backup uncovered an additional previously undisclosed audio recording. In total, 119 covert audio files totaling approximately 140 hours—recorded secretly by Micah Neal—were produced: 39 in April 2017, another 79 in November 2017, and one more in February 2018.

Conviction

Following nearly four weeks of trial proceedings and two days of jury deliberations, Jon Woods was found guilty on May 3, 2018 of fourteen federal offenses including soliciting and accepting kickbacks linked to government fund allocations. The verdict encompassed conspiracy to commit mail fraud, twelve counts of wire fraud, and money laundering.

On September 6, 2018, Judge Brooks sentenced Woods to 220 months in federal prison and ordered restitution amounting to $1.6 million. This sentence fell below federal guideline recommendations which ranged from 324 to 405 months.

FBI Agent Guilty Plea and Sentencing

On August 17, 2022, former FBI agent Robert Cessario pled guilty to corrupt destruction of records during an official investigation. As lead investigator in the Woods case, attempts by defense counsel to call him as a witness were limited by Judge Brooks who barred questions concerning Cessario’s deletion of his official work laptop data.

The jury remained unaware that Cessario erased his laptop hard drive specifically to prevent its use during Woods’ trial. Although facing up to twenty years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000, on January 5, 2023 he received a sentence of six months home confinement without monitoring followed by three years probation along with a $25,000 fine.

Appeal Before the Eighth Circuit

After his conviction, Woods appealed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, contending that the district court erred by denying his motion to dismiss based on the FBI’s destruction of data. On October 16, 2020, the appellate court affirmed the conviction, determining that the destroyed material held no exculpatory significance and was obtainable through alternative sources.

Woods submitted a subsequent appeal to the same tribunal in April 2022, which was unanimously denied on August 31, 2022. The panel concluded that the allegedly new evidence actually reinforced the prosecution’s case against Woods and was either irrelevant or previously accessible.

National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL)

The NACDL, a prominent U.S. organization dedicated to safeguarding justice and due process, filed an Amicus Curiae Brief in support of Woods and his co-defendant. They maintained that due process violations arising from the destruction of government evidence warranted reversal of the conviction.

The Eighth Circuit ruled that it is the defendant’s responsibility to demonstrate what information was contained on the destroyed laptop. The NACDL criticized this approach as inadequate for protecting defendants’ rights or deterring governmental misconduct, stating:

Resignation of Lead Prosecutor

On September 22, 2017, President Donald Trump nominated Dak Kees as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, following recommendations from former Attorney General Jeff Sessions and former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein. During Jon Woods’ sentencing phase, Kees advocated for a sentence of 33 years and 9 months due to Woods’ failure to cooperate.

Kees did not pursue charges against Agent Robert Cessario for destroying a government-issued laptop; instead, this matter was investigated by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) based in Dallas.

On January 17, 2020, Dak Kees resigned amid allegations of unethical behavior. An OIG report uncovered that Kees had engaged in an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate during the 2018 trial of Jon Woods. Key conclusions included:

• Kees allegedly leveraged his promotion authority to exert pressure on the subordinate.
• Text messages from Kees were characterized as "damaging and embarrassing."
• He attempted to prevent another employee’s termination to avoid potential leverage against himself.
• Intimate meetings frequently took place after business hours with blinds drawn, causing distress for the subordinate.
• The subordinate was demoted and suffered a salary reduction, believed to be retaliatory after ending the relationship; Kees denied these claims.
• The relationship concluded in September 2018, coinciding with Woods’ sentencing.
• Upon learning of the investigation, Kees tendered his resignation effective January 17, 2020.

President Trump later admitted he had received poor counsel regarding hiring choices, acknowledging he now distinguishes "the tough ones and the weak ones and the dumb ones."

Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin appointed Kees to serve on the state’s Judicial Discipline and Disability Commission, which oversees judicial misconduct investigations. Following publication of the OIG report in May 2024, Kees stepped down from this role.

Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Litigation

Court records indicate that the Department of Justice failed to adhere to FOIA requirements concerning the Office of the Inspector General's (OIG) findings on Special Agent Robert Cessario. This refusal to comply prompted journalists Doug and Lisa Thompson to initiate legal action.

On August 8, 2022, Lisa Thompson, Executive Editor of the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette, alongside Doug Thompson, the paper’s political reporter and Enterprise Editor, filed a FOIA request seeking documentation related to the investigation’s conclusions and recommendations. Their request was denied on October 17, 2022, and a subsequent appeal was rejected on December 22, 2022.

After a lapse of eighteen months, on April 9, 2024, Doug Thompson was notified that 3,783 pages of potentially pertinent documents had been identified but would require an estimated 67 months to process fully. The extensive delay led the journalists to file a lawsuit, asserting that the FBI breached FOIA by failing to provide a response within the mandated 20 business days.

Judge Timothy Brooks issued an order on November 26, 2024, directing the FBI to commence document releases in installments, with the initial batch of 500 pages scheduled for delivery by the end of the year.

External links

• Campaign website