Judge is suspended without pay after guilty plea in underwear case
Image from Shutterstock.com.
A New York judge was suspended without pay Friday after he pleaded guilty to second-degree attempted burglary for trying to steal a woman's underwear.
The New York Court of Appeals continued the suspension of Judge Robert Cicale and said he should not be paid during the suspension, the New York Law Journal reports. Cicale was previously suspended with pay.
Cicale was accused of trying to enter the home of an intern who worked for him when he was a town attorney. The woman reported hearing a noise and seeing a man running off, according to prior coverage by the Associated Press and WABC.
Police said they found Cicale on the street carrying several pairs of the woman’s soiled undergarments.
Cicale told police that he had taken the underwear on a previous occasion, and he went to the house to take underwear again.
Cicale was arrested in March 2018. He pleaded guilty earlier this month, according to coverage by Newsday and the New York Daily News.
Cicale had worked as a judge in Suffolk County generally hearing misdemeanor cases.
A lawyer for Cicale, Michael Brown, said Cicale accepted responsibility for his actions, according to the Newsday story. “He has dealt with his mental illness issues in a proactive manner and is a better person for doing so,” Brown said.
