A federal appeals court should not only affirm ousted Circuit Judge Michael Maggio's bribery conviction but also revoke his appeal bond and order him directly to prison, the U.S. attorney's office said in a court document released Monday.
Further, Maggio missed the point when he argued that it was lawful for him to lower a Faulkner County jury's $5.2 million judgment against a Greenbrier nursing home to $1 million, a prosecutor argued.
"As his under oath, factual admissions indicate, Maggio did not remit the judgment against Individual A's nursing home because he believed it was appropriate or legally required, he did so because he wanted Individual A's financing for his court of appeals campaign," Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Peters wrote.
Peters repeatedly referred to two other key people whom Maggio implicated in his plea agreement as Individual A and Individual B. While denying the bribery allegations, nursing-home owner Michael Morton of Fort Smith and political fundraiser Gilbert Baker of Conway have said in depositions that they believe Individuals A and B, respectively, refer to them.
[BRIEF: Click here to read the U.S. attorney office's response]
Maggio's argument that "'I stole it, but it wasn't worth that much anyway' speculation at sentencing regarding value of the nursing home verdict had no place in this criminal litigation," Peters said.
In January 2015, Maggio pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge in U.S. District Court in Little Rock. In March, Judge Brian Miller sentenced Maggio to 10 years in prison and two years of supervised release after rejecting Maggio's request to withdraw the plea.
Maggio has appealed that decision and his sentence to the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis. He is free pending the appeal. He has contended his original attorneys "badgered" him into the plea even though he was innocent. He also has made arguments based on legal technicalities.
The case involves Maggio's ruling July 10, 2013, to lower the judgment against the nursing home, owned by Morton, two days after Morton sent $30,000 in checks to several political action committees, some of which later contributed to Maggio's since-halted campaign for the Arkansas Court of Appeals. Morton has said he intended the money to reach Maggio's campaign, though not all of it did.
Peters wrote that the government could proceed with "other, more serious, charges" against Maggio and said it could use his "factual admissions" against him.
"However, the United States would be prejudiced by the granting of the motion inasmuch as the passage of a substantial period of time would provide similarly situated defendants with the ability to escape their obligations under valid and binding plea agreements and affect witness memories," she wrote.
Miller's decision to sentence Maggio to a time longer than sentencing guidelines suggests "was substantively reasonable based on Maggio's extreme conduct," the prosecution said.
"That Maggio was only promised a small donation in exchange for reducing a large jury award does not mitigate Maggio's conduct, but rather aggravates it," Peters said.
Maggio sold "a verdict as a means to obtain a higher judicial office," she added.
"Additionally, Maggio's sentence is not out of line with sentences imposed on other corrupt judges," Peters said. "Where judicial officials participate in bribery schemes, significant terms of imprisonment are, and should be, the result."
Peters gave some examples from other cases.
"While Maggio's sentence is at the high end of those sentences, Maggio has the additional distinction of corrupting not only a multi-million dollar verdict, but also the electoral system by using the disguised bribe money to fund his campaign for a higher bench," she said.
Peters urged the appeals court to revoke Maggio's bond pending appeal because, she said, he "cannot demonstrate a 'substantial question or law or fact'" that should lead to his not having to go to prison as previously scheduled.
Maggio's response to the government's filing is due Monday.
State Desk on 08/09/2016