Former Judge Pleads Guilty To Accepting Bribes

The Crooked Bench: Virginia Magistrate Joins Handful Of Bribe-Takers
The Wall Street Journal -  May 3, 2012

The wheels of the justice system are rarely explicitly greased by bribes, but one recent case stands out.  A former state magistrate in Portsmouth, Va. pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to taking bribes from a bail bondsman. Deborah Clark admitted to taking the bribes in exchange for giving the bondsman favorable treatment in setting bonds for defendants, according to a statement.  Clark took cash and gifts from 2009 through February 2012 for referring arrestees to the bondsman, and for taking his advice on the amount of bond to set in particular case. In addition to cash, she admitted to taking payments for gas, meals and expense money for trips.  She faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 when she is sentenced Oct. 3.  But is she the only U.S. judicial official to be sentenced recently for taking bribes? No, of course not.  Recall some cases from the past year or so, including one of the top-five convictions in Corruption Currents’ first year.  Former judge Mark Ciavarella was sentenced to 28 years in prison following a conviction for money laundering and conspiracy for sending children to detention centers in exchange for kickbacks from the builder of the detention facilities.  Or what about the former judge in Brownsville, Texas convicted last year for taking bribes in exchange for favorable rulings? And the judge in Texas convicted for taking a bribe that boosted her election chances in exchange for favorable rulings?  Americans don’t think that highly of their judicial system, anyway.  Transparency International’s 2010 Global Corruption Barometer asked respondents to score the extent of corruption in institutions on a scale of five, with five being extremely corrupt. U.S. respondents rated its judiciary at 3.4, barely edging out police, which rated a 3.3 but beating the press, which scored a 3.5.

RELATED:

Former Magistrate in Portsmouth Pleads Guilty to Accepting Bribes
U.S. Attorney’s Office  -  May 02, 2012  -  Eastern District of Virginia  -  (757) 441-6331

NORFOLK, VA—A former state magistrate in Portsmouth, Virginia pleaded guilty today to accepting bribes from a bail bondsman in exchange for giving him favorable treatment in setting bonds for criminal defendants who had been arrested, U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride for the Eastern District of Virginia and Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division announced today.  Deborah Clark, 52, of Portsmouth, Virginia, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Henry C. Morgan Jr.  Clark was charged in a criminal information filed on April 16, 2012. She faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 when she is sentenced on Oct. 3, 2012.  According to a statement of facts filed with her plea agreement, Clark was a state magistrate in Portsmouth from January 1993 until April of this year. She was authorized to issue arrest and search warrants, and to set bail or order the detention of arrestees. From 2009 through February 2012, she accepted cash and gifts from a bondsman in exchange for referring arrestees to the bondsman as prospective clients and seeking and accepting his advice on the amount of bond to set in particular cases. In addition to regular cash payments, Clark admitted receiving payments for gas, meals and expense money for trips.  Clark is subject to prosecution for bribery under a federal statute because, as a magistrate, she was an agent of the Commonwealth of Virginia, which receives annual benefits in excess of $10,000 under federal programs involving grants and other forms of assistance.  This case was investigated by the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alan M. Salsbury and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy E. Cross of the Eastern District of Virginia and Trial Attorneys Peter Mason and Monique Abrishami of the Public Integrity Section in the Justice Department’s Criminal Division are prosecuting the case.  A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.