Arkansas state judge sentenced 10 years for accepting bribes

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Reuters

Arkansas state judge sentenced 10 years for accepting bribes
Reuters
22 minutes ago

(Reuters) - A former Arkansas judge was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday in a federal court in Little Rock after he pleaded guilty to lowering the amount of damages a jury awarded in a civil suit in exchange for campaign contributions.

Michael Maggio, 54, a former state district judge, reached a plea deal in 2015 where he admitted to receiving the bribes to reduce a $5.2 million judgment in a civil negligence case against a nursing home company to $1 million, according to court papers.

Maggio met with an unidentified person who said he could provide about $50,000 in campaign funds in return for a favorable ruling in the civil case, the papers said.

In the plea deal, Maggio admitted that he "corruptly accepted and agreed to accept from another something of value, that is campaign contributions," in connection with a business matter in his court.




Read more: https://news.yahoo.com/arkansas-state-judge-sentenced-10-years-accepting-bribes-215547616.html

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Mike Maggio gets maximum 10-year sentence for taking bribe as judge

Posted By Max Brantley and Benjamin Hardy on Thu, Mar 24, 2016 at 1:45 PM




Mike Maggio, 54, the defrocked circuit judge who pleaded guilty to taking a bribe to reduce a verdict in a nursing home negligence case, was sentenced to 10 years in prison today, the maximum. The government had also asked for a a restitution order of $4.2 million. The judge imposed no financial penalty.

U.S. District Judge Brian Miller said he wanted to impose the maximum because of the harm a dirty judge does to the system. "I put drug dealers in prison for five, ten, twenty years for standing on a corner selling crack cocaine," he said. "What's worse: A drug dealer on the corner or a dirty judge? A dirty judge is far more harmful to society than a dope dealer." Corruption in the judicial system especially erodes public trust in the system, he said, because "a judge is the system."

. . .

Maggio entered a plea bargain in the case in January 2015, but the U.S. attorney's office said he hasn't cooperated. He was untruthful in some of his statements, the government said. That resulted in a high sentencing recommendation from the probation office, which prompted Maggio to attempt to withdraw his guilty plea. But Judge Miller earlier rejected that request on March 10.

In his original plea, Maggio admitted reducing a $5.2 million jury verdict against a Greenbrier nursing home owned by Michael Morton of Fort Smith after Gilbert Baker, a former Republican senator from Conway, had arranged multiple contributions from Morton to PACs that were to funnel the money to Maggio for a planned race for state Court of Appeals. Neither Baker nor Morton has been charged with a crime. Both deny wrongdoing. They were referred to as Individuals A and B in the Maggio indictment.

More:
http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2016/03/24/maggio-sentencing-in-federal-court-today

[Laurian]

1. Should be arrested by the fashion police as well.

White belt and white shoes!

[Jopin Klobe]

9. White belt, white shoes ...

... White Trash ...

[Chicago1980]

15. With a barbers pole around his neck

[pkdu]

2. He should have gotten an extra 5 years just for

Those shoes!

[WheelWalker]

4. Plus another 3 years for the belt.

[rock]

3. Does the news not know what party he belonged to?

Shall I guess?

[Judi Lynn]

7. They did mention the people who bribed him are Republicans. I'll see if I can find out about him. n/

[rock]

11. Thanks

I did try Google but no success.

[Judi Lynn]

10. Found out! He was appointed to his post by Gov. Mike Huckabee. Ah, ha haaaaa.

Mike Maggio was the Division 2 circuit judge of the Twentieth Circuit of Arkansas. He was appointed to the court by Governor Mike Huckabee in January 2001. His current term was set to expire in December 2014, however, Maggio was removed from office on September 11, 2014 (see story below).

https://ballotpedia.org/Mike_Maggio

[rock]

12. Huckabee. Surprise! Surprise!

A Republican. Incidentally, I'd be more pissed if it were a Democrat. I appreciate your help on clearing this up. Thanks again.

[WhiteTara]

17. I'm surprised he isn't a pedophile too.

[Laf.La.Dem.]

5. Sounds like a super deal -

pay $50,000 and save millions!

[LiberalFighter]

6. He should had been sentenced to 20 years.

[Judi Lynn]

8. 2 yrs. ago: Judge Mike Maggio withdraws from Court of Appeals race; acknowledges web postings

Judge Mike Maggio withdraws from Court of Appeals race; acknowledges web postings

Posted By Max Brantley on Wed, Mar 5, 2014 at 7:49 PM

In an e-mail, Circuit Judge Mike Maggio has announced his withdrawal from the Arkansas Court of Appeals race because of reporting on his injudicious comments on Tiger Droppings, an LSU fan website. He acknowledged the comments and, while saying he took "full responsibility," he nonetheless invoked the "politics of personal destruction" in his downfall.

It's more accurate to say the tools of Maggio's destruction were his own hands at a computer keyboard.

Maggio made dozens, perhaps hundreds, of comments on the website under the pseudonym "geauxjudge." They included remarks derogatory to women, blacks, gays and Arkansans, but they also included his disclosure of a confidential judicial matter in Faulkner County, actress Charlize Theron's adoption of a child in 2012. It remains unclear if the adoption was in Maggio's court or that of Circuit Judge David Clark. It's generally understood that judges may confer among themselves about legal issues, but adoptions are supposed to be strictly confidential as far as public disclosure is concerned.

. . .

Maggio made dozens, perhaps hundreds, of comments on the website under the pseudonym "geauxjudge." They included remarks derogatory to women, blacks, gays and Arkansans, but they also included his disclosure of a confidential judicial matter in Faulkner County, actress Charlize Theron's adoption of a child in 2012. It remains unclear if the adoption was in Maggio's court or that of Circuit Judge David Clark. It's generally understood that judges may confer among themselves about legal issues, but adoptions are supposed to be strictly confidential as far as public disclosure is concerned.

More:
http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2014/03/05/judge-mike-maggio-withdraws-from-court-of-appeals-race-acknowledges-web-postings

[center]~ ~ ~[/center]
Arkansas Judge’s Shocking Racist, Sexist, Homophobic Comments
Published March 10, 2014
By Albert Lin

An Arkansas Circuit Court judge has withdrawn from the race for a seat on the state’s Court of Appeals and is under investigation for possible violations of the state’s Code of Judicial Conduct after making racist, sexist and homophobic comments on an online message board.

Mike Maggio admitted in a statement that he was responsible for the posts on the Louisiana State University fan site TigerDroppings.com. The comments, which date back to at least 2011, also accuse Arkansans of participating in incest and bestiality.

. . .

Some of the less explicit ones are below:

“Women look at 2 bulges on a man, one in the front of the pants or second one in the back pocket. Whichever one is bigger they can do without the other.”

“News flash she is black by injection,” re: a thread on the rumor that O.J. Simpson is Khloe Kardashian’s biological father.

“OT ballers just gamble like Arabs, drink like Indians, and do the humpty-hump like rabbits.”

“How many Doctors do you hear named Dr. Taneesha or HaHa? How many bankers do [you] hear named Brylee? So Stick with something close to normal. Or come sit in criminal court any day and see the “common names”

“Find out when the gay/lesbian week is at DW (Disney World). … Nothing like having to explain to your 5 year old son why those two grown men in line for it’s a small world are kissing.”

“If you can have TGGLBS sex then it is just a small step to this,” re: a thread dealing with bestiality.

“What’s the most used line in Arkansas: daddy get off me you are crushing my cigarettes”

“Sex with animals ….. been there done that ….. signed, Arkansas”

http://www.diversityinc.com/news/arkansas-judges-shocking-racist-sexist-homophobic-comments/

[billhicks76]

13. Arkansas In The 80s Was A Big Coke Party

It's interesting reading the history of the corrupt establishment there and the Dixie Mafia. I know many people here dont want to hear it because the idolize Bill and frankly I dont care what drugs he or anyone did or does but there is a lot of testimony that is eye-popping from Democrats, Republicans and people not involved in politics per se. I wonder what Roger Clinton is up to these days. I would bet my house that Jeb Bush and not just his brother did lots of blow in the late 70s and 80s. No one should be handing out long sentences to poor black people...thats crazy...the big Columbian drug lords busted in the US got 5 years in the 80s. The whole system stinks.

[Dr. Xavier]

14. I am anti-death penalty except for one type of crime

treason... and I consider a corrupt judge to be as big a traitor as a senator who won't follow the Constitution of the United States... Hang the SOB and take his pension away so that the family doesn't benefit from his greed and treason...

[Grins]

16. And of course..."(kids) from a previous relationship and lives with his partner.."

From the Guardian:

"He has three sons and two daughters from a previous relationship and lives with his partner, Dawn.

Partner? Not wife? He's living in sin? But...but...but...Traditional Christian Family Values™!