Ex-judge sentenced for seeking wife’s texts for beer, money
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (AP) – A former judge who offered a law enforcement officer beer and money to retrieve his wife’s text messages has been sentenced to probation.
U.S. Attorney John Stuart Bruce said former Superior Court Judge Arnold Ogden Jones II was sentenced in federal court Wednesday to two years’ probation, fined $5,000 and ordered to perform 100 hours of community service. Jones pleaded guilty in March to promising and paying gratuities to a public official.
Prosecutors said that between October and November 2015, Jones gave, offered and promised cases of beer and $100 to a FBI task force officer to compel a cellular provider to produce text messages by Jones’ wife. The former judge believed the messages would prove his wife was having an affair.