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Conner Eldridge | |
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United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas | |
In office December 10, 2010 –August 21, 2015 | |
President | Barack Obama |
Preceded by | Deborah Groom (Acting) |
Succeeded by | Duane Kees |
Personal details | |
Born | William Conner Eldridge,Jr. September 9,1977 Fayetteville,Arkansas,U.S. |
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Mary Elizabeth |
Children | 3 |
Education | Davidson College (BA) University of Arkansas,Fayetteville (JD) |
William Conner Eldridge Jr. (born September 9,1977) is an American lawyer and politician who served as United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas. A member of the Democratic Party,he was his party's nominee for the 2016 U.S. Senate election in Arkansas.
Eldridge was born in Fayetteville,Arkansas in 1977. [1] He lived in Augusta,Arkansas for twelve years before moving to Lonoke,Arkansas,where he worked on his family's farm. [2] He graduated from Lonoke High School and earned a bachelor's degree from Davidson College in North Carolina 1999. He graduated with a Juris Doctor from the University of Arkansas in 2003,where he was also a member of the Law Review. [3]
Eldridge is the son-in-law of Ross Whipple,the former owner of Summit Bank. [4] He and his wife,Mary Elizabeth,have three children:Will,Henry,and Tull.
Eldridge served as a legislative correspondent for Senator Blanche Lincoln,a legislative assistant for Congressman Marion Berry,and a law clerk for G. Thomas Eisele between 1999 and 2004. [5] While serving as a legislative aide,he focused primarily on agricultural issues. [2]
Prior his legal career,Eldridge was named president of Arkadelphia's Summit Bank in July 2005 and joined the board of directors in March 2006. [6] From 2006 to 2008,Eldridge served as corporate executive vice president and senior counsel,and from 2008 to 2010,as the chief executive officer for the bank. [7] Eldridge became special deputy prosecutor for the Prosecuting Attorney's Office of Clark County in 2009.
After a unanimous confirmation by the U.S. Senate,Eldridge became the US Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas in 2010. [3] As a federal prosecutor,Eldridge was an aggressive prosecutor of child abusers,drug traffickers and fraudsters. [8] In 2014,Eldridge's office successfully prosecuted Brandon Barber,a former Northwest Arkansas developer,who developed schemes to defraud banks,creditors and the Federal Bankruptcy Court. [9] Barber received a sixty-five months federal sentence for bank fraud and money laundering.
During his time as a U.S. Attorney,Eldridge prosecuted over 100 child abusers and pornographers. [8] Eldridge's office saw individuals convicted on charges of child abuse,including transporting minors with the intent to engage in sexual activity, [10] possession of child pornography, [11] and production of child pornography. [12] Eldridge underscored the importance of these convictions,stating,"there is no higher priority in our office than protecting our children." [11]
Eldridge also proactively sought to fight child abuse by providing information to parents about how to protect their children,and how to be an advocate for the communities on child abuse. [13]
In an effort to combat child abuse and help children in violent and crime-ridden homes succeed in their school setting and in life,Eldridge launched the A-Chance program in August 2014. [8] Eldridge found that children across Arkansas are exposed to unconscionable situations,and he saw this program as a meaningful step to "truly change the cycle of violence in our communities". [14]
The A-Chance ("Arkansas Cultivating Healthy Attitudes and Nurturing Children to Excel") program allows the police working a domestic violence or crime scene in a home involving school-age children to contact the children’s school officials by early the following day with a “Handle with Care Notice”. Eldridge said the notification allows teachers and administrators insight that better helps them address the needs of those children. [14] The program seeks to provide proper care for children following these traumatic events,empowering students to excel in school and break this cycle of violence. [14]
Beginning in 2011,agents with the FBI and FBI Task Force initiated an investigation,known as “Operation Crystal Clear”,into Jamie Martin and his drug trafficking organization. During the investigation,agents identified Martin as a source of supply in Columbia County,Arkansas. Pursuant to a court order,agents intercepted the wire and electronic communications of a cell phone used by Jamie Martin. Over the course of the court-ordered interception,investigators received numerous wire and electronic communications between Martin and his co-conspirators discussing the distribution of methamphetamine and collection of drug debts. In many of the communications,Martin and co-conspirators used coded language to disguise their drug trafficking activities. Through their investigation,agents learned that Martin was responsible for the distribution of ounce quantities of methamphetamine to various customers in the Western District of Arkansas. Additionally,during the course of the investigation,agents conducted numerous controlled purchases of methamphetamine from Martin. During the course of those controlled buys,Martin sent various co-conspirators to deliver the methamphetamine on his behalf. As a result of this investigation,agents seized over three pounds of methamphetamine,five firearms,and approximately $160,000 in cash. Martin and his co-conspirators were originally charged in a 15-count indictment by a Federal Grand Jury,which was filed on March 6,2013. Martin pleaded guilty to one count of Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine on December 11,2013. During sentencing,it was determined that Martin was an organizer or leader of a criminal activity that involved five or more participants and that Martin possessed a dangerous weapon during the commission of the offence. [15]
After charging 24 individuals with state and federal crimes involving large-scale drug trafficking in relation to Martin,Eldridge emphasized the importance of "identifying,investigating,and prosecuting drug trafficking organizations in South Arkansas and throughout the Western District." Eldridge went on to ensure that "those who bring this illegal activity onto our streets" will be "held accountable so that Arkansans can have confidence that our streets are safe.". [16]
In April 2015,Eldridge announced that Jamie B. Martin,age 36,of Waldo,Arkansas,was sentenced to 240 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release on one count of Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine as part of “Operation Crystal Clear,”an investigation into large-scale drug trafficking of methamphetamine throughout Columbia County,Arkansas,and surrounding areas. [15]
Upon sentencing,Eldridge commented,“With the sentence announced today,another drug trafficking organization has been successfully dismantled,and its leader brought to justice. The criminal activity involved in this case victimized the people of Waldo,Magnolia,and the surrounding area. Our office remains committed to vigilantly and aggressively prosecuting drug trafficking organizations across the Western District of Arkansas in order to eradicate the crime and violence they bring into our communities.” [15]
In the early morning hours of June 20,2010,Frank Maybee and Sean Popejoy of Green Forest,Arkansas,targeted five Hispanic men who had pulled into a gas station parking lot. Though Maybee and Popejoy did not know the men and the five did not do or say anything to provoke them,Maybee and Popejoy yelled racial epithets at the men and told them to “go back to Mexico”. The co-conspirators pursued them in Maybee’s truck when the victims drove away. When Maybee and Popejoy caught up to the victims,Popejoy leaned outside of the front passenger window,waived a tire wrench at the victims,and continued to threaten and hurl racial epithets at the victims. Maybee,driving his truck,rammed into the victims’car repeatedly,causing the victims’car to cross the opposite lane of traffic,go off the road,crash into a tree and ignite. The victims were severely injured,and one of the victims sustained life-threatening injuries. [17]
Eldridge strongly condemned the actions of Maybee and Popejoy,saying,"Acts of violence that occur simply because of how someone looks are horrific. The five victims in this case were targeted because they are Hispanic. That is reprehensible." [17] In 2011,Maybee and Popejoy were charged with a federal hate crime and found guilty by a federal jury. The federal jury convicted Maybee of five counts of committing a federal hate crime and one count of conspiring to commit a federal hate crime,and Popejoy of one count of committing a federal hate crime and one count of conspiring to commit a federal hate crime. Upon news of the verdict,Eldridge said,"We thank the jury –12 individuals from communities across Northern Arkansas - for their careful consideration of the evidence and for holding the defendants accountable for their actions. We hope that acts like this never occur." Eldridge maintained that justice would be sought in such instances,adding,"However,if they do,we will vigorously prosecute them.” [17]
US District Judge Jimm Larry Hendren sentenced Maybee to 11 years in prison and Popejoy to 4 years in prison. [18] Eldridge noted that Maybee and Popejoy were the first individuals sentenced under the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd,Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act,an Act of Congress that bolstered prosecution of hate crimes in 2009.
In 2015, Eldridge announced that he would challenge incumbent Republican John Boozman in the 2016 election to the United States Senate. [19] Eldridge entered the race to work with and for Arkansans, and he positioned himself as a candidate with a fresh perspective and an independent voice. Eldridge said he planned to serve and make a difference for Arkansans that are increasingly "frustrated with a Washington that seems further and further removed from the real problems they face every day." [8]
Eldridge's campaign focused on nonpartisanship and "getting things done". [20] Eldridge attributed this focus to his "white-board" theory of governing. [20] "That is," Eldridge explained, "that you check the party labels and the politics at the door. You walk in the room; you put a problem on the white board. You have an open, honest, intellectual discussion about what the possible solutions to that problem are. You discuss the pluses and minuses of each solution. You come up with the best solution to the problem. That’s what ought to be implemented via legislation. That is not a partisan exercise." [20]
During his campaign, Eldridge promised as a US Senator, he would prioritize job creation, education and the national debt, among other issues. Specifically, he drew attention to the national deficit and debt. "We know that we've got $18 trillion in debt, and that debt has tripled from the time my opponent took office," Eldridge said". It is time we start doing something about it now." [21]
Drawing from his experience as a prosecutor and US Attorney, Eldridge said that if elected to the US Senate, he would introduce legislation that would increase the maximum sentence for child predators, including first-time offenders, to life in prison. [22] This would include criminals who sexually abuse children and those criminals who produce images of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. [22]
In response to President Barack Obama's Executive Order on guns, Eldridge, a strong advocate for the Second Amendment, issued a statement encouraging the United States Congress to secure and defend the rights of lawful gun owners under the Second Amendment; enforce the gun laws already on the books; and make it tougher for criminals, those with mental health conditions, and terrorists, to obtain weapons. [23]
Child sex tourism (CST) is tourism for the purpose of engaging in the prostitution of children, which is commercially facilitated child sexual abuse. The definition of child in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child is "every human being below the age of 18 years". Child sex tourism results in both mental and physical consequences for the exploited children, which may include sexually transmitted infections, "drug addiction, pregnancy, malnutrition, social ostracism, and death", according to the State Department of the United States. Child sex tourism, part of the multibillion-dollar global sex tourism industry, is a form of child prostitution within the wider issue of commercial sexual exploitation of children. Child sex tourism victimizes approximately 2 million children around the world. The children who perform as prostitutes in the child sex tourism trade often have been lured or abducted into sexual slavery.
John Nichols Boozman is an American politician and former optometrist serving as the senior United States senator from Arkansas, a seat he has held since 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he was the U.S. representative for Arkansas's 3rd congressional district from 2001 to 2011. He is the dean of Arkansas's congressional delegation.
Crime has been recorded in the United States since its founding and has fluctuated significantly over time. Most available data underestimate crime before the 1930s, giving the false impression that crime was low in the early 1900s and had a sharp rise after. Instead, violent crime during the colonial period was likely three times higher than the highest modern rates in the data we have, and crime had been on the decline since colonial times. Within the better data for crime reporting and recording available starting in the 1930s, crime reached its broad, bulging modern peak between the 1970s and early 1990s. After 1992, crime rates have generally trended downwards each year, with the exceptions of a slight increase in property crimes in 2001 and increases in violent crimes in 2005–2006, 2014–2016 and 2020–2021. As of July 1, 2024 violent crime was down and homicides were on pace to drop to 2015 levels by the end of the year.
The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act is a landmark United States federal law, passed on October 22, 2009, and signed into law by President Barack Obama on October 28, 2009, as a rider to the National Defense Authorization Act for 2010. Conceived as a response to the murders of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr., both in 1998, the measure expands the 1969 United States federal hate-crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.
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In the United States, a federal crime or federal offense is an act that is made illegal by U.S. federal legislation enacted by both the United States Senate and United States House of Representatives and signed into law by the president. Prosecution happens at both the federal and the state levels and so a "federal crime" is one that is prosecuted under federal criminal law and not under state criminal law under which most of the crimes committed in the United States are prosecuted.
Human trafficking in Australia is illegal under Divisions 270 and 271 of the Criminal Code (Cth). In September 2005, Australia ratified the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, which supplemented the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. Amendments to the Criminal Code were made in 2005 to implement the Protocol.
In 2009 Mauritius was not a major source for children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced prostitution within the country. Secondary school-age girls and, to a lesser extent, younger girls from all areas of the country, including from Rodrigues Island, were induced into prostitution, often by their peers, family members, or businessmen offering other forms of employment. Taxi drivers were known to provide transportation and introductions for both the girls and the clients. Girls and boys whose mothers engaged in prostitution were reportedly forced into prostitution at a young age. Some drug-addicted women were forced into prostitution by their boyfriends, who serve as their pimps. In Great Britain, two Malagasy nationals were convicted in 2009 of holding a small number of Mauritian nationals, as well as citizens of other countries, in conditions of forced labor; this appeared to be an isolated case of transnational human trafficking involving Mauritian citizens. Students from all over the world were forced into prostitution within the country.
In 2009 Morocco was a source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children who are subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically forced labor and forced prostitution. Children were trafficked within the country from rural areas to urban centers to work as maids or laborers, or for commercial sexual exploitation. Moroccan men, women, and children were exploited for forced labor and prostitution in Middle Eastern countries. Young Moroccan girls from rural areas were recruited to work as child maids in cities, but often experienced non-payment of wages, threats, and physical or sexual abuse, and sometimes faced restrictions on movement. These practices indicate that these girls are subjected to involuntary servitude. Moroccan boys experienced forced labor as apprentices in the artisan and construction industries and in mechanic shops. A few Moroccan men and boys were lured to Europe by fraudulent job offers, and are subsequently forced to sell drugs. In addition, men and women from sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Philippines entered Morocco voluntarily but illegally with the assistance of smugglers; once in Morocco, some of the women were coerced into prostitution or, less frequently, forced into domestic service. Nigerian gangs, who engaged in a variety of criminal activities like human smuggling and drug trafficking, competed to control the trafficking of sub-Saharan Africans in Morocco.
In 2009 Ethiopia was a source country for men, women, and children subjected to trafficking in persons, specifically conditions of forced labor and forced prostitution. Girls from Ethiopia's rural areas were forced into domestic servitude and, less frequently, commercial sexual exploitation, while boys were subjected to forced labor in traditional weaving, gold mining, agriculture, herding, and street vending. Small numbers of Ethiopian girls were forced into domestic servitude outside Ethiopia, primarily in Djibouti and Sudan, while Ethiopian boys were subjected to forced labor in Djibouti as shop assistants and errand boys.
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