Jury convicts ex-judge in drug conspiracy cover-up
Posted: 11/02/2012
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - A federal jury in Tennessee has convicted a former Knoxville criminal court judge charged with lying to cover up a scheme that provided him with painkillers and sex.
WVLT-TV reports that the verdict issued Friday convicted Richard Baumgartner on five counts and acquitted him of another count.
Baumgartner pleaded guilty to state charges of misconduct and left the bench in 2011 but avoided jail time. An investigation found he had obtained prescription painkillers from felons in his court.
The U.S. attorney's office indicted him in May on charges of misprision of a felony, accusing him of lying to cover up a conspiracy involving a defendant from his court supplying him with pills and sex.
Baumgartner's defense conceded he was an addict and adulterer but argued that his actions weren't a federal crime.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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