Trump pardons former Arkansas senator sentenced in PFH corruption scheme

Last edited 2:08 p.m., June 2, 2025 [Editor's note: A statement from Brightli has been added.]

President Donald Trump has pardoned a former Arkansas state senator who was sentenced to prison in 2023 for his role in a multistate corruption scheme involving former top officials of Preferred Family Healthcare Inc.

Jeremy Hutchinson was issued a pardon yesterday by Trump, according to a list of clemency grants by the president this year maintained by the Justice Department. 

Hutchinson was sentenced in April 2023 to four years and two months in prison for accepting bribes from executives at PFH, which is based in Kirksville and has its administrative offices in Springfield. Hutchinson, who resigned from public office in August 2018 after being indicted in Arkansas, pleaded guilty in 2019 to his role in the multimillion-dollar PFH public corruption scheme involving bribes, illegal campaign contributions and embezzlement, according to past reporting. 

Bontiea and Tom Goss, who previously served as PFH's chief operating officer and chief financial officer, respectively, were among officials tied to the scheme who were sentenced to prison, according to past reporting. 

PFH in 2022 agreed to pay more than $8 million in forfeiture and restitution to the federal government and the state of Arkansas under the terms of a nonprosecution agreement. The agreement acknowledged the criminal conduct of its former officers and employees.

In early 2022, PFH and Burrell Behavioral Health formed a joint venture that established Brightli as their parent company, SBJ previously reported. 

Rance Burger, director of media and public relations for Brightli, provided a statement on behalf of the organization.

"Preferred Family Healthcare has been commended for cooperating with state and federal government agencies during the course of this investigation into the organization, its former executives and other responsible parties. We were glad to have this matter fully resolved years ago, and we’ve continued to focus on the work our team members do to provide access quality health care," the statement reads.