LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) A former Arkansas judge who has unsuccessfully tried to withdraw his guilty plea to a bribery charge is now asking to be released from prison, alleging one of his attorneys misled and pressured him.
Former Circuit Court Judge Michael Maggio’s motion filed Monday in federal court in Little Rock alleges attorney Lauren Hamilton, now Lauren Hoover, pressured him to plead guilty, saying two others under investigation in his case were seeking a plea deal with prosecutors to testify against him.
Maggio says he’s learned the two, who are not named, had no interest in a plea deal.
Hoover declined comment to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Maggio is serving a 10-year prison term after admitting to lowering a jury’s judgment in a negligence lawsuit from $5.2 million to $1 million in exchange for indirect donations to his campaign for a seat on the Arkansas Court of Appeals.
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