A federal judge sentenced an FBI agent who admitted to intentionally wiping the hard drive on his work laptop computer before it could be forensically examined to probation.Robert Cessario was sentenced to three years of probation.He was ordered to spend the first six months of his probation confined to his home. He will not be allowed to leave without the permission of the probation and parole office.Cessario was also ordered to pay a $25,000 fine.Cessario had pleaded guilty in August 2022 to a count of corrupt destruction of record in an official proceeding.Jon Woods CaseCessario was one of the special agents who investigated the case against former State Sen. Jon Woods. Woods is currently in prison after being convicted on 15 corruption-related charges. Woods was sentenced to 18 years and four months in federal prison.According to court records filed by the government, Cessario was ordered to submit his laptop computer for a forensic examination after certain interviews with witnesses were called into question.According to the plea agreement, Cessario admitted that in December 2017, he took the computer to a commercial business and paid for it to be “wiped” to completely erase the contents of the hard drive that contained the recordings and that he performed another procedure a few days later before he submitted the computer for forensic examination.According to the sentencing memorandum filed by Texas Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Jackson, the government had no evidence Cessario wiped the computer other than what he expressed, which was to remove sensitive and personal family information from the computer or that he had any motive to impede the public corruption prosecution.Public ProtestAccording to memorandums filed by Cessario’s defense attorney, he sought a one-year, unsupervised probation sentence. Memorandums filed by U.S. Attorneys representing the government recommend a probation sentence, with the length at the judge’s discretion.On Tuesday, a handful of people gathered outside the Western District of Arkansas Federal Courthouse in Fort Smith to protest the proposed sentence.”What is appalling to us as citizens for justice is that he’s asking for one-year unsupervised probation, that is appalling to me. Robert Cessario is a law enforcement officer in the United States that has a lot of power to do a lot of damage to people’s lives, so he is held to account also for supporting the law of the land and making sure that true justice is rendered to all the citizens that he has anything to do with,” said Connie Davies, who traveled from North Carolina.
A federal judge sentenced an FBI agent who admitted to intentionally wiping the hard drive on his work laptop computer before it could be forensically examined to probation.
Robert Cessario was sentenced to three years of probation.
He was ordered to spend the first six months of his probation confined to his home. He will not be allowed to leave without the permission of the probation and parole office.
Cessario was also ordered to pay a $25,000 fine.
Cessario had pleaded guilty in August 2022 to a count of corrupt destruction of record in an official proceeding.
Jon Woods Case
Cessario was one of the special agents who investigated the case against former State Sen. Jon Woods. Woods is currently in prison after being convicted on 15 corruption-related charges. Woods was sentenced to 18 years and four months in federal prison.
According to court records filed by the government, Cessario was ordered to submit his laptop computer for a forensic examination after certain interviews with witnesses were called into question.
According to the plea agreement, Cessario admitted that in December 2017, he took the computer to a commercial business and paid for it to be “wiped” to completely erase the contents of the hard drive that contained the recordings and that he performed another procedure a few days later before he submitted the computer for forensic examination.
According to the sentencing memorandum filed by Texas Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan Jackson, the government had no evidence Cessario wiped the computer other than what he expressed, which was to remove sensitive and personal family information from the computer or that he had any motive to impede the public corruption prosecution.
Public Protest
According to memorandums filed by Cessario’s defense attorney, he sought a one-year, unsupervised probation sentence. Memorandums filed by U.S. Attorneys representing the government recommend a probation sentence, with the length at the judge’s discretion.
On Tuesday, a handful of people gathered outside the Western District of Arkansas Federal Courthouse in Fort Smith to protest the proposed sentence.
“What is appalling to us as citizens for justice is that he’s asking for one-year unsupervised probation, that is appalling to me. Robert Cessario is a law enforcement officer in the United States that has a lot of power to do a lot of damage to people’s lives, so he is held to account also for supporting the law of the land and making sure that true justice is rendered to all the citizens that he has anything to do with,” said Connie Davies, who traveled from North Carolina.
