Ex-FBI agent pleads guilty to destroying evidence connected to ex-lawmaker's corruption trial

Former FBI agent Robert Cessario pleaded guilty to destroying evidence connected to the corruption trial of former Arkansas Republican state Sen. Jon Woods.

Cessario admitted in a plea deal that he paid a company to "wipe" his computer's hard drive to make the data unavailable for forensic examination, ABC 40/29 News reported.

He acknowledged on Wednesday that he erased the hard drive knowing that its contents were relevant to the official investigation with the intention of deleting the evidence.

"Questions arose in the case about when and in what manner I had obtained the recordings," Cessario stated. "Therefore, the court ordered that the computer be forensically examined by the FBI. On December 4, 2017, before taking it for forensic examination, I took the computer to a business and paid the business to 'wipe' the computer to completely erase the contents of the hard drive."

The former agent faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. 

The charges are related to Cessario's investigation of Woods, a pro-Trump former senator who is serving 18 years for mail and wire fraud after he was convicted in 2018.