KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A jury has convicted a former Knoxville criminal court judge charged with lying to cover up a scheme that provided him painkillers and sex.
WVLT-TV (http://bit.ly/TqBT6s ) reported the verdict issued Friday convicted Richard Baumgartner on five counts and acquitted him on another count.
Baumgartner pleaded guilty to state charges of misconduct and left the bench in 2011 but avoided jail time after an investigation found he was obtaining 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 his actions weren't a federal crime.
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Information from: WVLT-TV, http://www.volunteertv.com/
