West Virginia Judge Charged with Conspiracy

A judge for the Mingo County Circuit Court in West Virginia has recently been charged with two counts of conspiracy in a federal case. The charges are connected to three incidents of the judge trying to frame the husband of his secretary, with whom he had been having an affair. After the secretary ended the affair, the judge began his efforts to criminally endanger her husband. All of the cases he engineered against her husband were dismissed.

In the indictment, it was revealed that the judge tried to have illegal drugs planted in the victim's vehicle and also got a false complaint for larceny made against him through a state trooper that the judge befriended for that purpose. The judge also arranged for the victim to be identified as the perpetrator in an assault incident where the victim was acted against by two men, one with a gun.

According to a U. S. prosecutor, none of the people the judge tried to use in his efforts to frame the victim will be charged with any criminal offense. The judge, however, who is 57, faces up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted. He has been a judge in Mingo County since 1997 and was an assistant prosecutor there from 1981 to 1983. He has since been suspended without pay and has had his law license suspended as well.

Criminal Defense Attorney in Richmond, Virginia

As a federal crime, conspiracy is a broad area which refers to an agreement between two or more individuals to commit a criminal offense or to accomplish something through unlawful means. It is usually accompanied by an overt act on the part of one or more of the conspirators to accomplish the agreement. It is outlined under Section 371 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code.

Facing federal criminal charges, such as in the case above, is a serious legal matter for the accused. Federal prosecutors in such cases often seek the maximum penalties for a conviction, which can include multiple years in a federal prison, heavy fines, probation, possible restitution, and a future with a permanent criminal record. Vaughan C. Jones, Attorney at Law, is a criminal defense firm serving clients in the greater Richmond area with experienced and hard-hitting legal representation. Attorney Jones represents clients in both state and federal criminal cases and prides himself on tackling even the most complex and difficult cases. He is a former prosecutor who has become one of the state's premier criminal defense lawyers. Contact his firm for a consultation about your criminal charges as soon as possible.