N.C. judge charged for attempting to bribe FBI agent
RALEIGH, N.C. -- A North Carolina Superior Court judge is charged with trying to bribe an FBI agent to collect text messages between two phone numbers in what the judge said was a family matter, reports CBS affiliate WRAL.
Federal prosecutors on Wednesday announced the charges against Judge Arnold Jones II, who hears cases in three rural eastern North Carolina counties and is chairman of the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission.
Prosecutors say Jones approached the unidentified FBI agent a month ago, and the two met in Goldsboro on Tuesday to exchange $100 for a disk supposedly containing the data. The judge initially offered to give the agent "a couple cases of beer" for his help but later agreed to $100 in cash.
Jones had his court appearance Wednesday and was released with restrictions on travel and possessing firearms. His next court date has not been set.
Jones has been charged with promising and paying a bribe to a public official, promising and paying a gratuity to a public official and corruptly attempting to influence an official proceeding, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
It's illegal for law officers to demand text or phone information from a phone company without an approved search warrant in an active case.