Ex-Arizona official pleads guilty to human smuggling charge (republican)
Last edited Fri Jun 26, 2020, 09:31 AM - Edit history (1)
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A former Arizona official pleaded guilty Wednesday to a human smuggling charge for what prosecutors called his role in running an illegal adoption scheme in three states involving women from the Marshall Islands.
Paul Petersen pleaded guilty in federal court in Arkansas to conspiracy to commit human smuggling, the third guilty plea he’s entered for the scheme. Petersen, a Republican who served as Maricopa County, Arizona’s assessor for six years until his resignation in January, pleaded guilty in Arizona and Utah to smuggling and fraud charges last week.
“This plea agreement is one more step on a long road towards putting an end to the illegal adoption practices that have long plagued the Marshallese community in our district,” David Clay Fowlkes, the acting U.S. attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, said in a statement.
https://apnews.com/0c5ba6d756c1975b9843217c5e00f5d0
= new reply since forum marked as read
