aGameOfThrones
08-15-2013, 10:41 PM
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A West Virginia judge is accused of having an affair with his secretary and trying to frame her husband for several crimes over five years, including drug possession, larceny and assault.
Authorities said none of the schemes panned out for Mingo County Circuit Court Judge Michael Thornsbury, and he was charged Thursday with two counts of conspiracy.
A second county official was charged with extortion in an unrelated case in yet another blow to an area still reeling from the assassination of its sheriff in April.
Mingo County, a coalfields community of about 27,000 people on the state's southern border with Kentucky, has a long history of violence and government corruption.
It's the home of the legendary feud between the Hatfield and McCoy families, and was dubbed "Bloody Mingo" when unionizing miners battled security agents hired by coal companies in the early 20th century.
In 1988, former sheriff Johnie Owens was convicted of selling his office for $100,000, and in February, a woman was charged with tipping people off about pending indictments while she served on the grand jury.
On the courthouse steps in Williamson, resident Angie Combs took the latest allegations in stride.
"I'm not surprised — too much corruption," she said. "This is embarrassing. It's the same old, same old."
Thornsbury, 57, faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. His attorney, Steve Jory, declined comment.
The indictment said the judge wanted a friend to plant a magnetic metal box in 2008 containing drugs on a vehicle belonging to the secretary's husband, Robert Woodruff. The judge's friend didn't go through with it.
When that failed, prosecutors said the judge got a state trooper to file a false complaint against Woodruff for larceny. The judge wanted the trooper to pursue a case against Woodruff, an employee of H. Coal Co., for salvaging mine-roof drill bits and scrap from his employer, even though he had permission to do so.
Thornsbury befriended the trooper and "purposely cultivated a relationship" to influence the way he carried out his law enforcement duties, the indictment said.
The officer, who was named trooper of the year in 2009, was placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation, said State Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Baylous.
County Prosecutor Michael Sparks intervened in the larceny case. He knew of the affair and "recognized that the criminal charges against Woodruff were improper," the indictment said.
http://news.yahoo.com/w-va-judge-county-official-face-federal-charges-212547386.html
Authorities said none of the schemes panned out for Mingo County Circuit Court Judge Michael Thornsbury, and he was charged Thursday with two counts of conspiracy.
A second county official was charged with extortion in an unrelated case in yet another blow to an area still reeling from the assassination of its sheriff in April.
Mingo County, a coalfields community of about 27,000 people on the state's southern border with Kentucky, has a long history of violence and government corruption.
It's the home of the legendary feud between the Hatfield and McCoy families, and was dubbed "Bloody Mingo" when unionizing miners battled security agents hired by coal companies in the early 20th century.
In 1988, former sheriff Johnie Owens was convicted of selling his office for $100,000, and in February, a woman was charged with tipping people off about pending indictments while she served on the grand jury.
On the courthouse steps in Williamson, resident Angie Combs took the latest allegations in stride.
"I'm not surprised — too much corruption," she said. "This is embarrassing. It's the same old, same old."
Thornsbury, 57, faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. His attorney, Steve Jory, declined comment.
The indictment said the judge wanted a friend to plant a magnetic metal box in 2008 containing drugs on a vehicle belonging to the secretary's husband, Robert Woodruff. The judge's friend didn't go through with it.
When that failed, prosecutors said the judge got a state trooper to file a false complaint against Woodruff for larceny. The judge wanted the trooper to pursue a case against Woodruff, an employee of H. Coal Co., for salvaging mine-roof drill bits and scrap from his employer, even though he had permission to do so.
Thornsbury befriended the trooper and "purposely cultivated a relationship" to influence the way he carried out his law enforcement duties, the indictment said.
The officer, who was named trooper of the year in 2009, was placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation, said State Police spokesman Sgt. Michael Baylous.
County Prosecutor Michael Sparks intervened in the larceny case. He knew of the affair and "recognized that the criminal charges against Woodruff were improper," the indictment said.
http://news.yahoo.com/w-va-judge-county-official-face-federal-charges-212547386.html