Ex-FBI Agent Pleads Guilty To Destroying Evidence

Authored by Jack Phillips via The Epoch Times (emphasis ours),

A former FBI agent said he is pleading guilty to paying a business to wipe his computer hard drive to make it unavailable for forensic examination, according to a statement.

The FBI headquarters in Washington on Jan. 2, 2020. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Former FBI agent Robert Cessario was charged with corrupt destruction of record in an official proceeding in connection to the trial of former Arkansas Republican state Sen. Jon Woods, local media reported.

On Wednesday, Cessario issued a statement saying that he is pleading guilty as part of a plea deal in the case.

“I erased the contents of the computer hard knowing that the court has ordered that the computer be submitted for a forensic examination,” the former federal agent stated in court documents, according to local Arkansas news outlets. “I did so with the intention of making the contents of the computer’s hard unavailable for forensic examination.”

“Ex-FBI Agent Pleads Guilty To Destroying Evidence, that is, Cause No. 5:17-CR-50010, United States v. Woods et al,” Cessario’s statement continued, adding that he “corruptly performed and had performed, the erasures with intent to impair the integrity and availability of the computer hard drive and its contents for use in that official proceeding.”

He added: “I am guilty of the violation alleged.”

Court documents show Cessario faces as many as 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 and three years of supervised release, according to local media reports. His sentencing will come at a later date, which has not been disclosed.

Woods’s Trial

The case stems from the trial involving Woods, who in 2018 was convicted of mail fraud and wire fraud charges. Woods was accused of taking kickbacks in return for steering state grants to Ecclesia College in Springdale.

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