Prosecutor says former Arkansas judge should start prison sentence

LITTLE ROCK — A federal prosecutor says a former Arkansas circuit judge’s bribery conviction should be affirmed and his prison sentence should begin.

According to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, a court document released Monday also says a federal appeals court should also revoke former Faulkner County Circuit Court Judge Michael Maggio’s appeal bond because he “cannot demonstrate a ‘substantial question or law or fact’” that should keep him from going to prison as previously scheduled.

Assistant U.S. attorney Julie Peters also wrote in the court document that the federal government could file “other, more serious, charges” against Maggio.

Maggio was accused of accepting $50,000 two days before reducing a jury award against that company from $5.2 million to $1 million. He pleaded guilty in January 2015 in a Little Rock district court and admitted that he accepted campaign donations from an unidentified nursing home owner and a lobbyist in exchange for lowering the jury award. Maggio later filed an appeal of his conviction, saying that he should be allowed to withdraw his guilty plea. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison and two years of supervised release.

Maggio remains free while the appeal of his conviction is pending. His response to the government’s filling is due Monday.