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Former Judge Michael Maggio Asks To Withdraw Guilty Plea

Former Circuit Court Judge Mike Maggio.

A former central Arkansas circuit judge is asking a federal judge to allow him to withdraw his guilty plea on a federal bribery charge, two weeks before he is scheduled to be sentenced.

Attorney James Hensley wrote in a filing Friday that former judge Michael Maggio's previous attorneys had erred in advising him to plead guilty last year to the bribery charge. Hensley says there was no evidence the bribe involved government business as required under the charges.

Federal prosecutors allege Maggio accepted campaign donations from a nursing home owner and a lobbyist in exchange for reducing an award in a nursing home negligence case. A message left with prosecutors was not immediately returned Friday.

Maggio's sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 26.

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