Ex-N.Y. Judge Gets Up to 10 Years in Prison
Former Brooklyn Judge Gerald P. Garson was sentenced yesterday to three to 10 years in prison for accepting bribes and official misconduct.
Garson sobbed as he apologized to the court, the New York Times reports, but pointed out that he had not been convicted for fixing cases. “I am profoundly sorry for the public scrutiny visited on the judiciary as a whole because of my conduct,” he said.
Garson had been accused of giving ex parte advice, referrals and other favors to a lawyer who gave him cash, free meals and cigars.
Demonstrators carried signs that read “Corrupt Judges Got to Go.” Spectators applauded when a woman who lost custody of her children in a case decided by Garson spoke, saying, “Mr. Garson, you stole my children.”
Garson’s lawyer, Michael Washor, had asked for a low sentence, citing his client’s bladder cancer and heart problems, the New York Law Journal reports.
