Man who spent day in Seattle tree accused of mischief

California jury rejects graduate's suit against law school

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A former Arkansas judge was sentenced Thursday to 10 years in prison after admitting he reduced a jury award by millions of dollars in exchange for campaign donations from a nursing home operator. Prosecutors said Michael Maggio, who pleaded guilty last year to a federal bribery charge, accepted a $50,000 donation two days before reducing a jury's $5.2 million award to $1 million. Maggio had been permanently removed from the bench in 2014, after making inappropriate comments in an online forum — including disclosing confidential details about an adoption involving Hollywood actress Charlize Theron. Prosecutors had recommended the maximum 10-year prison sentence for the former Faulkner County Circuit Court judge. Maggio's attorneys had sought probation, saying the former judge has suffered "personal, professional and political destruction" over the past two years. They also said he had health issues. Prosecutors said in filings this week that Maggio had not taken responsibility for his actions, tried to delete text messages relevant to the investigation, and had stopped making himself available for interviews. They also said Maggio lied to investigators at the Arkansas Ethics Commission looking into the donations, and he failed a lie detector test asking for more details of the interactions between himself, the nursing home owner and a lobbyist who brokered the exchange. Prosecutors said the donation, which included $24,000 from the nursing home company's owner, was made in July 2013. Maggio admitted in January 2015 that he had accepted the campaign donations from an unidentified nursing home owner and lobbyist in exchange for reducing the jury award. He also surrendered his law license. Prosecutors had asked Miller to consider making Maggio criminally liable for paying the family in the civil lawsuit the $4.2 million reduction in the jury award.

Arkansas ex-judge gets 10 years in prison in bribery case