A federal judge has ruled that a former Arkansas circuit court judge can remain free pending his appeal of a federal bribery conviction.
Former judge Michael Maggio was sentenced to 10 years in prison last month after federal Judge Brian Miller denied his request to withdraw his guilty plea.
Maggio admitted in a plea agreement that he had accepted campaign donations from a nursing home company owner two days before reducing a jury award against that company by millions of dollars.
Miller wrote in his ruling Friday that Maggio did not pose a risk to the community. He wrote that Maggio's appeal of his withdrawal request was substantive because there was no precedent for a judge being charged under the statute.
Maggio was scheduled to report to prison May 23.
