Ousted Circuit Judge Michael Maggio filed a motion Monday asking a judge to impose a sentence below the guideline range and to seriously consider probation in his bribery case, according to court documents.
In the motion, which came three days before he's to be sentenced in federal court on a bribery charge, Maggio's attorney James Hensley Jr. argued that his client had already punished himself by voluntarily resigning from his position as circuit judge in Faulkner County, giving up his license to practice law and withdrawing from the 2013 Court of Appeals race that he likely would have won.
In doing so, he will never again be able to work in the legal business, which will prevent him from committing a similar crime in the future, according to the motion.
The motion states that Maggio's chronic health conditions, which include depression, hypertension, sleep apnea and a cleft palate that requires several surgeries, warrant a below-guideline sentence because they would be expensive and difficult to treat in prison.
Hensely also claimed that years of bullying, in addition to regular volunteer work, merit a lighter sentence.
"His being born with a birth defect did lead to bullying from peers, teachers, adults and others in his life," the motion states. "He has worked hard to rise above the taunts and jeers."
Maggio, who admitted to lowering a Faulkner County jury's $5.2 million judgment in a negligence lawsuit against a Greenbrier nursing home to $1 million in exchange for contributions made indirectly to his election campaign for the Arkansas Court of Appeals, could receive up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette previously reported.
He is scheduled to appear for sentencing at 1:30 p.m. Thursday in U.S. District Court.
Read Tuesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.