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Judge Gets 5 Years for Trading Dismissals for Nude Photos

A former Arkansas judge was sentenced Wednesday to five years in federal prison for dismissing minor criminal cases in exchange for nude photographs or sexual favors from male defendants.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (CN) – A former Arkansas judge was sentenced Wednesday to five years in federal prison for dismissing minor criminal cases in exchange for nude photographs or sexual favors from male defendants.

O. Joseph Boeckmann, a former district court judge in Cross County, pleaded guilty in October to wire fraud and witness tampering. He admitted on Wednesday that the seven-year-long scheme defrauded cities and counties of money and property they should have received as fines or fees from the people whose cases were fraudulently dismissed.

U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker also fined 72-year-old Boeckmann $50,000 and sentenced him to three years of supervised release after he does his time.

Prosecutors said Boeckmann admitted abusing his judicial position to dismiss traffic citations and misdemeanor criminal charges for young men in exchange for what he claimed was “community service.” He used his access to them during their purported community service to take photographs of them in compromising positions.

Boeckmann also dismissed charges against defendants in exchange for sexually related conduct, according the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

He also admitted that he bribed a witness to try to obstruct an investigation of his scheme.

Prosecutors recommended a prison sentence of up to three years, but the judge gave him five, saying he had acted corruptly and obstructed justice while on the bench, which “sets his crime apart.”

Boeckmann sat on the bench from 2009 to 2015.

Winne, the seat of Cross County in northeast Arkansas, is 60 miles west of Memphis.

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Categories / Courts, Criminal

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