Circuit Court Judge Pleads Guilty to Obstruction

OXFORD, MS—Jim M. Greenlee, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Mississippi, and Frederick Brink, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, today announced that Bobby B. Delaughter, 55, of Raymond, Miss. Circuit Court Judge for Hinds County, Miss., entered a change of plea as to Count Five of a previously-returned indictment today before United States Senior District Judge Glen H. Davidson, in Aberdeen, Mississippi. Delaughter pleaded guilty to one count of obstructing, influencing and impeding an official federal corruption investigation and grand jury proceeding, in violation of Title 18, Section 1512(c)(2).

In connection with his guilty plea, Delaughter agreed to serve 18 months in prison. In exchange, the United States agreed to dismiss the remaining charges of the indictment and not to charge the defendant with any other offenses arising from or related to the instant charge. Other than the term of imprisonment, the parties made no agreement as to the sentence to be imposed, which will be in the sole discretion of the court subject to the Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1512(c)(2) carries a maximum possible penalty of not more than twenty (20) years’ imprisonment, not more than $250,000 fine, or both and not more than three years supervised release following imprisonment. A copy of the plea agreement is attached.

United States Attorney Jim M. Greenlee stated: “At the heart of our democracy is an independent judiciary, free from outside influence or corruption. When that is compromised, we must take steps to restore the community’s faith in the judicial system. I would hope that most view this prosecution as such a cleansing step. Without the outstanding work and untiring effort of the FBI, this could not have been achieved. In this prosecution, the staff of the office of the United States Attorney has labored to uphold our system of justice. I especially thank Assistant U.S. Attorney Bob Norman, recently so ably assisted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Chad Lamar, for their tenacity and highly professional and extremely productive work. They have provided exceptional service to our court system and our citizens that depend upon it.”

Frederick Brink, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Mississippi stated: “Public corruption in any form cannot be tolerated in our society. Such crimes strike at the core of America’s basic principles of democracy. Elected and appointed officials must act impartially, without influence or bias. Their inability or failure to do so jeopardizes the confidence placed in them by the public they are entrusted to serve. The FBI will continue to aggressively investigate public corruption. Such crimes undermine the strength of our democracy and, left unchecked, threaten our government and our way of life.”

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and has been prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Bob Norman and Chad Lamar.