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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Ga. ex-judge switches plea to guilty in corruption |
| 2009-09-12 |
| MACON, Ga. -- A former Superior Court judge pleaded guilty to a federal corruption charge Friday after striking a deal to avoid prison, ending a lengthy legal battle that toppled him from his post as one of rural Clinch County's most powerful politicians. Prosecutors' agreement to drop 13 charges against Brooks E. Blitch III - and to seek probation instead of a prison sentence - stunned U.S. District Judge Hugh Lawson, who took a 20 minute break to decide if he would accept the deal. "This is the same Brooks Blitch whose hide the government has been trying to nail to the barn door for four years," Lawson said in court. "The government has done everything it can to send this man to jail." Blitch, 74, presided for nearly 28 years in south Georgia's Alapaha Judicial Circuit. A federal investigation targeting the judge came to light in 2007 when the FBI searched Blitch's office soon after Clinch County commissioners accused him of ordering $73,000 in secret payments to employees that were kept off the books and never taxed. Misconduct charges by the state Judicial Qualifications Commission, an agency that investigates judges, forced Blitch to resign in May 2008. Two months later, federal prosecutors indicted Blitch on criminal charges that accused him of fixing cases, appointing his former law partner to a judgeship in exchange for legal services and making illegal payments to employees. Speaking in a soft voice, Bitch pleaded guilty to only a single charge of honest service fraud conspiracy. He admitted he had negotiated deals for criminal defendants outside the courtroom - reducing sentences and bonds, terminating probations and ordering early releases from jail or prison without holding hearings or informing prosecutors. Asked by the judge if he truly was guilty, Blitch replied: "Yes, sir. I am responsible for it too." |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Once again all, it's time for NAME THAT PARTY! |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2009-09-12 10:07 |