U.S. District Court Judge Sentenced to 33 Months in Prison for Obstruction of Justice

U.S. District Court Judge Sentenced to 33 Months in Prison for Obstruction of
Justice

WASHINGTON, May 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- U.S. District Judge Samuel B.
Kent was sentenced today to 33 months in prison for obstruction of justice
related to an investigation of a judicial misconduct complaint filed against
him, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer and Andrew R. Bland III,
Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Houston office announced.

Kent, 59, a district judge in the Southern District of Texas, pleaded guilty
to obstructing a special investigative committee of the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the Fifth Circuit during an investigation of a judicial misconduct
complaint filed against him. Kent was sentenced in federal court in Houston
by Senior U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson for the Northern District of
Florida, who was sitting by designation in the Southern District of Texas.

On Aug. 28, 2008, a grand jury in the Southern District of Texas indicted
Kent, who was at that time a sitting U.S. District Judge for the Southern
District of Texas, on two counts of abusive sexual contact and one count of
attempted aggravated sexual abuse for his alleged assaults in 2003 and 2007 on
an employee of the Office of the Clerk of Court identified as Person A. On
Jan. 6, 2009, the grand jury returned a superseding indictment against Kent.
The superseding indictment incorporated the original charges and added three
counts: one count each of abusive sexual contact and aggravated sexual abuse,
based on Kent's alleged repeated assaults on another U.S. District Court
employee identified as Person B, and one count of obstruction of justice,
based upon his obstruction of the Fifth Circuit's investigation into a
misconduct complaint filed by Person A.

On Feb. 23, 2009, Kent pleaded guilty to obstructing the judicial misconduct
investigation into his sexual assaults. As part of his plea, Kent admitted
that in both 2003 and 2007, he engaged in non-consensual sexual contact with
Person A without her permission. He also admitted that he engaged in
non-consensual contact from 2004 through at least 2005 with Person B without
her permission. When Person A filed a misconduct complaint against him, the
Fifth Circuit appointed a committee to investigate whether Kent had engaged in
unwanted sexual contact with Person A and individuals other than Person A.
Kent admitted that when he appeared before the committee in June 2007, he
falsely testified about his conduct with Person B.

Kent was also ordered to pay a $1,000 fine as well as restitution of $3,300 to
Person A and $3,250 to Person B. Kent was ordered to surrender on June 15,
2009.

The case was prosecuted by Senior Deputy Chief for Litigation Peter J.
Ainsworth and Trial Attorneys John P. Pearson and AnnaLou T. Tirol of the
Criminal Division's Public Integrity, which is headed by Section Chief William
M. Welch II. The case was investigated by the FBI.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Justice, +1-202-514-2008, TDD: +1-202-514-1888