Judge Joseph Waters Jr.
The Judiciary Report has consistently complained in
articles for years that there are corrupt judges in the legal
system, accepting bribes and derailing justice at innocent people's
expense. The site has also contended a series of stings are in order
to catch corrupt judges.
It was revealed this week, the FBI set up a sting
regarding Philadelphia judge, Joseph Waters Jr., whom they suspected
of corruption from the bench in two cases.
Waters also telephoned two other judges and asked them to engage
in corruption on behalf of litigants he was corrupted into
unlawfully aiding in court.
The FBI invented a fake criminal defendant, named
the fictitious man, David Khoury and filed criminal charges, placing
the case with Judge Waters, who took the bait. After a phone call
was made to Waters from an individual in league with the FBI, asking
him to corruptly let well-connected Khoury off the hook, the judge
ruled the lawbreaking defendant should be free.
The FBI then dropped
the charges against their imaginary defendant David Khoury and
arrested Judge Waters for corruption. Waters pled guilty to federal
charges of "mail fraud" and "honest services wire fraud" and
resigned his post. Waters is facing up to 40-years in prison.
It's only fair to note, not all judges are corrupt.
There are some decent judges in the justice system doing the right
thing. However, the Judiciary Report can attest, there are some
corrupt bribe taking judges on the bench who need to be removed,
either via impeachment (federal judges) or being voted out and or
arrested (state judges). Judges beware. You are being watched and
when you least expect it, your criminal conduct will be uncovered.
STORY SOURCE
Philadelphia Judge Joseph C. Waters Jr. Pleads Guilty to Federal Corruption Charges
Philadelphia Judge Joseph C. Waters Jr. Pleads Guilty to Federal Corruption Charges
September 24, 2014 at 4:05 pm
- [UPDATE] According to an information (read the full document
below) released by the U.S. Department of Justice, as expected,
former municipal court judge Joseph C. Waters, who resigned his
position yesterday, has pleaded guilty to charges of mail fraud and
honest services wire fraud. The U.S. Attorney’s Office issued the
following release:
"Joseph C. Waters, Jr., 61, of Philadelphia, pleaded
guilty today to using his judicial position to influence the outcome
of two cases in the Philadelphia Municipal Court, announced United
States Attorney Zane David Memeger. Waters, a former Philadelphia
Municipal Court Judge, pleaded guilty to an information charging
mail fraud and honest services wire fraud.
"According to documents filed in the case, on
September 30, 2011, Waters was asked by Person #1 – a politically
active business owner – to use his judicial office to achieve a
favorable outcome in a small claims case filed in Philadelphia
Municipal Court against Person #1’s real estate management company.
To that end, Waters called two other Municipal Court judges,
assigned to the case on different dates, and asked them to rule in
Person #1’s favor.
A Municipal Court Judge identified in the
information as Judge #2 ultimately adjudicated the case in favor of
Person #1 after Waters told Judge #2 “he’s a friend of mine.” The
information charges that Judge #2’s ruling in favor of Person #1’s
company prevented the plaintiff in the small claims case, Company B,
from collecting $2733 in unpaid fees owed to it for security
services it delivered to Person #1’s company.
"Waters admitted today that he gave Person #1 a
secret advantage through a series of secret ex parte communications
with other Municipal Court judges scheduled to hear the small claims
case and used his position to cause favorable rulings for Person #1.
"The information outlined a second scheme in which
Waters used his position as a judge to facilitate a favorable
outcome in a criminal firearms case. According to the information,
Person #1 urged a witness cooperating with the government, “CW#1,”
to contribute money to help pay down debts Waters had incurred while
campaigning for a position on the Municipal Court.
In January 2010,
CW#1, gave Waters $1,000 in cash. The information charged that, in
accepting the money, Waters told CW#1 that he would help CW#1 with
future problems that CW#1 or CW#1’s friends may encounter in the
court system. The information further alleged that between 2010 and
2012, CW#1 provided gifts and cash contributions to Waters that were
not reported on Waters’ campaign finance reporting forms.
"In May 2012, CW#1 asked Waters for his assistance
with a firearms prosecution pending in the Municipal Court. CW#1
introduced Waters to an undercover agent (“UC#1”) as a business
associate. CW#1 and UC#1 asked Waters to help UC #1’s “cousin” who
had been arrested for felony possession of a firearm.
On July 23,
2012, Waters called Judge #1 alerting Judge #1 to the preliminary
hearing of a “friend” for the firearms charge and asked Judge #1 to
“help him.” According to the information, at a July 24, 2012
preliminary hearing, Judge #1, without proper legal basis, reduced
the felony firearms charge to a misdemeanor...
