A superior court judge in North Carolina is being sentenced for attempting to bribe federal law enforcement with two cases of Bud Light, the News Observer reported.
Arnold O. Jones II was convicted in October 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 News Observer reported.
He was to be sentenced this week, but a federal judge pushed his sentencing back to March.
Jones lost his re-election bid in November after serving eight years as a Wayne County Superior Court judge. Jones, a registered Democrat, served as the state's Innocence Inquiry Commission chairman.
The News Observer reported that court documents showed that Jones was attempting to gain access to text messages without the use of a warrant. Jones told a deputy, who was also an agent for an FBI task force, that he suspected his wife of be unfaithful.
In exchange for the information, Jones offered to buy the agent some beer. Instead of beer, Jones gave the agent $100 in cash.
Jones' defense contended that the judge was unaware that a search warrant was required to gain the information. The defense also claimed that the deputy led Jones on.
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