A North Carolina judge tried to bribe an FBI agent with Bud Light beer in exchange for some “innocent” spying on his wife and her alleged friend, but a unanimous jury found him guilty. Jurors unanimously agreed Friday that Superior Court Judge Arnold Jones II was guilty of paying a bribe to a public official, promising and paying a gratuity to a public official, and corruptly attempting to influence an official proceeding. The verdict wraps up a nearly year-long trial for Judge Jones. In November 2015, Jones also suggested $100 in cash, on top of the cases of beer, and paid them the day the FBI officer handed him over a disk with the desired messages.
“The evidence in the case concluded with a video of JONES exchanging the cash and disk on the steps of the Wayne County Courthouse in his judicial robe,” the US Department of Justice said in a press release.Details of Jones’ arrest have not been public, but according to the News & Observer, the judge was taken in custody after a “SWAT-team-like raid” on his Wayne County home. Jones’ defence has been saying that he had never been told by the FBI officer that his request could result in a search warrant. “The jury’s verdict affirms a bedrock principle of the rule of law,” John Bruce, the acting US Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, said in a statement afterwards. “No person holding a position of public trust in our legal system is permitted to subvert that system for his own personal objectives.” Following a five-day trial, it only took a jury thirty minutes to decide that Judge Jones was guilty.
You can only imagine how swift his sentencing hearing will be on January 23. Jones can now be sentenced to up to 37 years in prison and $750,000 (around ₹5 crore) in fines.
