Former Philadelphia Judge Pleads Guilty To Corruption Charges
By Tony Hanson
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - A Philadelphia municipal court judge who resigned Tuesday has now pleaded guilty in federal court to corruption charges.
Former judge Joseph Waters has pleaded guilty to mail fraud and honest services fraud. He has admitted using his position as judge to influence two court cases.
"Judge Waters is fully accepting responsibility for the fact he exercised extraordinarily poor judgement in abusing the power of his office by influencing the outcome of in one instance the civil case you heard about in court and another the criminal case," says Defense Attorney Michael Engel.
He admitted he made contact with other judges of the Municipal Court in order to cause some positive benefit for the party he was trying to assist. Authorities have only identified the others as Judge 1 and Judge 2 and prosecutors would not comment beyond that.
The civil case resulted in a reduced settlement amount for a politically active businessman and the second was a gun case sting involving an undercover agent.
Waters will be sentenced later. The two sides have agreed to a two-year sentence, but the final sentence decision is up to the judge.
