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Arkansas Ex-Treasurer Pleads Not Guilty To New Charges

Martha Shoffner
David Goins
/
KARK-TV

Former Arkansas treasurer Martha Shoffner has pleaded not guilty to mail fraud charges that allege she misspent thousands of dollars in campaign money on personal items.

Shoffner already faces a trial Monday on federal extortion and bribery charges.

At an arraignment Thursday, she entered a plea on 10 new charges lodged by a grand jury earlier this month.

That panel alleges Shoffner spent $9,800 in campaign funds for payments on a credit card used to buy clothing and cosmetics. U.S. Magistrate Beth Deere set a trial date of March 31.

The charges set for trial Monday accuse Shoffner of steering state business to a broker who had given her cash, sometimes in a pie box. She has pleaded not guilty. Shoffner, a Democrat, resigned days after her arrest last fall.

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