Ex-Knox Co. judge sentenced to prison
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Former Knox County judge Richard Baumgartner has been sentenced to six months in federal prison for lying to cover up a scheme that provided him with painkillers and sex.
Baumgartner was sentenced on Wednesday in federal court in Greeneville following his conviction in November of five counts of misprision of a felony.
Baumgartner stepped down from the bench and pleaded guilty in March 2011 to a state charge of official misconduct after the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation probe found he was addicted to painkillers and purchased pills from a probationer in his court. But he did not receive jail time for that charge.
Prosecutors argued for a prison sentence because his actions severely disrupted the judicial system in Knox County and required retrials for a half-dozen people.
