Federal prosecutors have dropped an obstruction-of-justice charge against Hot Spring County Sheriff Scott Finkbeiner in light of a recent U.S. Supreme Court opinion but have added four new charges and amended two others.
In another development, federal records show that since Finkbeiner’s arrest on Nov. 3, 2023, authorities have reached a plea agreement with a defendant in a related case, Kenneth Wayne Smith.
In December, Smith pleaded guilty to a methamphetamine distribution charge and maintaining a drug-involved premises — Smith’s home in Perla (Hot Spring County) a site also referenced in the case against Finkbeiner. Smith has not yet been sentenced.
Finkbeiner remains sheriff but has since relinquished most of the office’s duties while his case is pending.
Prosecutors filed a superseding indictment against Finkbeiner on Wednesday, quickly followed by defense attorneys’ unopposed request for another trial delay.
Judge Susan O. Hickey on Thursday rescheduled the trial to begin Dec. 2 in U.S. District Court in Hot Springs. The trial had been scheduled to start Aug. 19. Finkbeiner is to be arraigned Tuesday, Aug. 6.
The developments in Finkbeiner’s case followed a June 28 ruling in which the U.S. Supreme Court found that the federal obstruction charge applies only when when a defendant’s actions have impaired the integrity of physical evidence. Although the high court’s ruling was in the case of a Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot defendant, its impact also applies to other cases unrelated to the events of that day.
Finkbeiner is now charged with two counts of voluntarily providing the FBI with “incomplete and inaccurate information” about another Kenneth Wayne Smith’s distribution of drugs.
Finkbeiner also is charged with three counts involving “willfully and knowingly making a materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statement” during an FBI drug investigation. The indictment further accuses Finkbeiner of being an unlawful drug user who knowingly possessed one or more firearms — a handgun, an assault rifle and a shotgun — that had been shipped in interstate commerce.
State authorities have charged Finkbeiner with sexual solicitation, a misdemeanor, and unauthorized use of the Arkansas Criminal Information Center, a felony.