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Update: Prison for Judge Turned Pimp

By Robert J. Ambrogi

Last September, we told you about the retired New York Supreme Court judge who found an unusual way to keep himself busy in his retirement years -- recruiting prostitutes to service members of the fraternal group the Royal Order of Jesters. At the time, the former judge, Ronald H. Tills, had just pleaded guilty to violating the federal Mann Act by transporting the prostitutes across state lines. Tills, 74, has nothing to jest about today, given that a federal judge in Buffalo sentenced him Friday to serve 18 months in prison. "I will never forgive myself for the possible harm I've caused to the victims in this case," Tills said in a courtroom statement. "I'm embarrassed, and I feel terrible about the shame I?ve brought to the bench and the bar." Once a well-respected judge known for tough sentences, Tills was still serving on the bench when he became involved in helping to recruit prostitutes and transport them to Jesters' conventions in Pennsylvania, Florida, Kentucky and New York. The prostitutes were illegal immigrants who spoke little English, some having been sold into sexual slavery as young women. The judge who sentenced Tills, U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny, called him...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on August 10, 2009 (boomark / email).