By John Lyon
Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — Former University of Central Arkansas president Lu Hardin was sentenced to five years of probation today on federal charges related to a scheme to secure a $300,000 bonus from the school.

U.S. District Judge James Moody also ordered the former state senator and U.S. Senate candidate to serve 200 hours of community service for each year of his probation and to continue participating in Gamblers Anonymous. He did not impose a fine.

Hardin, 60, pleaded guilty in March to money laundering and wire fraud in connection with the bonus he received in 2008. The UCA Board of Trustees, which previously had approved awarding the bonus over five years, agreed to give Hardin the money early and in secret after he fabricated a memo from university vice presidents urging the action.

Hardin returned the money, less taxes, and ultimately resigned as UCA president after details of the scheme came to light. He collected a $670,000 buyout.

In 2009, he took a job as president of Palm Beach Atlantic University in Florida, a job he quit in March a few days before entering his guilty pleas in U.S. District Court in Little Rock.

He also surrendered his license to practice law in Arkansas.

Hardin told the judge today he became addicted to slot machines after trying them while on vacation with his wife, Mary. He said he maneuvered to get the bonus early to make up for his gambling losses.

Hardin said he has been in Gamblers Anonymous for nearly a year.

“I stand before you today very sorry. This conduct is not up to my standards. It was an aberration, but that doesn’t justify anything,” Hardin told Moody.

Hardin could have been sentenced to up to 10 years for money laundering and up to 20 years for wire fraud, but federal sentencing guidelines called for a sentence of 18-24 months.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Pat Harris asked for a lower range of nine to 12 months, saying Hardin has cooperated with the federal government in another investigation as part of his plea agreement.

Moody was not bound by the guidelines.

Harris later told reporters he could not disclose the subject of the other investigation. He said that investigation has been going on for about a year and is continuing.

“I hope at some point we can come to a resolution of that, and maybe Mr. Hardin will be a witness,” he said.

Harris called Hardin’s sentence “appropriate.”

Hardin spent 13 years in the state Senate before he ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate after David Pryor retired in 1996. He later switched to the Republican party and was named director of the state Department of Higher Education by Republican Gov. Mike Huckabee. He often was mentioned as a possible Republican candidate for governor.

Hardin was president of UCA from 2002-2008. In that time the university’s enrollment grew by 80 percent and endowments grew from $10 million to $35 million.

Hardin’s attorney, Chuck Banks, told Moody today that aside from his actions related to gambling, Hardin “lived the ideals and values that all of us hope to achieve.” He also said Hardin is blind in his right eye because of a melanoma.

Moody said he had received more than 60 letters vouching for Hardin’s character and accomplishments. The judge said he did not believe Hardin was likely to commit another crime and believed he was genuinely remorseful.

Moody said Hardin must teach classes about ethics and fraud as his community service.
Hardin declined to answer reporters’ questions as he left the courthouse.

Rush Harding III, one of the UCA board members duped by Hardin’s fraudulent memo, declined to comment Monday on the appropriateness of the sentence.

“I’m glad that Lu and Mary have finally got all that behind them,” Harding said.

Hardin’s sentencing comes as UCA is embroiled in another financial scandal that has cost Hardin’s successor his job. This month, the UCA board bought out the contract of Allen Meadors after revelations that what Meadors represented as a $700,000 gift from a university food vendor for repairs on the president’s residence actually came on condition the vendor’s contract be renewed.

Interim UCA President Tom Courtway said Monday he would not comment on Hardin’s sentence, but he expressed regret that negative publicity surrounding the school has overshadowed positive things happening on campus.

“Our financial picture is much improved, our bond rating is back to where it was, we’ve had two freshman classes that have increased — last year and this year our freshman enrollment is up — our ACT score has held up, even though the state average has dropped, for our freshmen, and our housing occupancy is at or near capacity,” Courtway said.

“We need the good stories and the good successes to come out,” he said. “That’s what we’re concentrating on.”