On Tuesday, a judge sentenced former Hot Spring County Sheriff Scott Finkbeiner to six months in prison after he entered a guilty plea to two state misdemeanors: inappropriate use of a state criminal database and soliciting sex.
Finkbeiner has not yet been scheduled for sentence in a federal felony case. In exchange for other charges being dropped, he entered a guilty plea in February in U.S. District Court to deceiving the FBI during a narcotics and sex investigation.
In February, Finkbeiner, a Republican from Malvern, resigned as sheriff. Authorities claim he tampered with a witness, and he has remained in custody for sentencing in the federal case. Finkbeiner, 47, was already prohibited from carrying out the majority of the sheriff’s office’s official responsibilities.
Margaret Dobson, the circuit judge for Hot Spring County, also fined Finkbeiner $4,500 on Tuesday.
Finkbeiner’s plea to be transferred from the Saline County jail to a federal medical institution was recently denied by a federal judge.
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