Federal prosecutors indicted nine current and former Philadelphia traffic court judges on Thursday for allegedly reducing and getting rid of traffic tickets for local politicians.
The judges are accused of fixing tickets for politicians and affiliiates of Philly's Democratic committee for favors like free seafood and car repairs, The New York Times reports.
The indicted judges "felt free to approach one another and exchange preferential treatment or 'ticket-fixing' without being rebuked or criticized by federal judges," the 77-count indictment stated, according to the Times.
Ticket-fixing was more the "rule than the exception," according to the indictment, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.
As part of this alleged practice, judges relied on code words like asking for "consideration" on a case, the indictment charges. Then those allegedly cases just went away, according to the Inquirer.
A lawyer for indicted Judge Michael Sullivan said his client never received any kickbacks.
"Judge Sullivan handled each case before him fairly and competantly," his attorney Henry Hockeimer said in a statement quoted by the Inquirer.
Head over to the Inquirer for the full story >
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