BENTONVILLE — A U.S. magistrate in Missouri has denied bail for an Arkansas lobbyist indicted on conspiracy and bribery charges in connection to an alleged kickback scheme.
U.S. Magistrate David P. Rush ruled Thursday that Milton Cranford, who goes by the nickname Rusty, should remain jailed after prosecutors alleged Cranford was also involved in a murder-for-hire plot. In denying bail, Rush said he found those allegations to be credible.
Cranford’s attorney, Nathan Garrett, called the allegations “absurd.”
Cranford has pleaded not guilty to the conspiracy and bribery charges. In court records, federal prosecutors alleged that Cranford tried to hire a felon to kill a Philadelphia-based lobbyist. Prosecutors say the felon was also an FBI informant.
No charges have been filed regarding the murder-for-hire allegations.
At a detention hearing Cranford in Federal District Court in Missouri earlier this month, former Jefferson County Judge Henry “Hank” Wilkins IV’s name came up, and through his attorney, the judge said he would testify for the government in Cranford’s case.
Wilkins admitted to federal officials that he had taken $100,000 in bribes from Cranford while Wilkins was serving in the Arkansas Legislature in exchange for pushing through grant funds to Cranford’s business interests. He resigned last week, and the Jefferson County Quorum Court appointed former Arkansas Legislator Booker Clemons as interim county judge until voters choose a new judge.