Federal judge in sex case gets nearly 3 years
HOUSTON – A disgraced federal judge was sentenced Monday to nearly three years in prison for lying to investigators about sexually abusing two female employees, who said they feared him so much they hid from him in the courthouse.
"Your wrongful conduct is a huge black X, a smear on the legal profession, a stain on the judicial system itself, a matter of concern in the federal courts," said U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson, a visiting senior judge called in from Pensacola, Fla.
Cathy McBroom, Kent's former case manager, said he "bragged" about his ability to intimidate people. "He told me everyone was afraid of him."
McBroom's complaint began the case, which expanded when allegations from the judge's secretary Donna Wilkerson were added.
"Unless Judge Samuel Kent immediately resigns, we intend to introduce a resolution jointly tomorrow to commence an inquiry into whether grounds exist to impeach him and remove him from office," Reps. John Conyers, D-Mich., and Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said in a statement Monday.
DeGuerin has said the judge was retiring due to a disability — which is the only way a judge Kent's age could leave the bench and keep his $169,300-a-year salary. Retired federal judges collect their full salaries for the remainder of their lives; judges who resign get nothing.
Kent's lawyer, Dick DeGuerin, said the judge had recently been hospitalized for stress-related illnesses and described the judge as an alcoholic.
McBroom said making the complaint had been "incredibly stressful" and led to the breakup of her marriage and the loss of her home. She said it forced her to give up what she considered her dream job and put her entire life under a public and legal microscope.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090511/ap_on_re_us/us_judge_on_trial;_ylt=AoW7pf7WtsteKrr8A8mopPBvzwcF~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just have to love Conyers giving this scum the warning. Just more corruption that the Federal government cares nothing about. Justice should be removed from all federal buildings. And this is the kind of shit that the average citizen has to digest when he knows that the law is corrupt. Or do we have any way that will change these travesties?