Circuit Court Judge Pleads Guilty to Obstruction

OXFORD, Miss., July 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- 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.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

Krisi Allen of the Office of United States Attorney Jim M. Greenlee, Northern
District of Mississippi, +1-662-234-3351