Gary Rickenbach, the former senior executive vice president of One Bank & Trust of Little Rock, on Monday offered a conditional guilty plea in federal court provided the judge agrees to sentence him to two years of probation.
Federal prosecutors agreed to replace a seven-count indictment against Rickenbach with a single charge of misprision of a felony — essentially failure to report a crime.
U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker has not decided whether to go along with the plea deal.
Rickenbach had been under indictment since April 2014. The original two-count indictment was replaced by seven counts in March, when three more former One Bank executives were added to the indictment: Michael Heald, Tom Whitehead and Bradley Paul.
In his plea deal, he admits that he failed to tell bank regulators that his former boss, the late Layton "Scooter" Stuart, falsified call reports in 2009 and 2010 in order to hide the default on a $1.5 million line of credit that Rickenbach recommended for an acquaintance in Florida. Court documents identify the borrower only as A.S., even though Albert Solaroli has already pleaded guilty to money laundering. Solaroli was scheduled to be sentenced on Monday, but that hearing was canceled and has not been reset.
Heald, Whitehead and Paul are currently scheduled for trial beginning Dec. 14.
Rickenbach is represented by Little Rock attorney William O. James Jr.