Michael Maggio Removed

Michael Maggio, an elected circuit judge in Faulkner County, Arkansas, pleaded guilty on January 9, 2015, to federal bribery charges after reducing a jury's $5.2 million verdict against a nursing home company to $1 million in exchange for campaign contributions. While the nursing home company's post-trial motions challenging the verdict were still pending before him, Maggio announced his candidacy for the Arkansas Court of Appeals. Two weeks later, the nursing home company's owner donated approximately $24,000 to Maggio's campaign — funneled through multiple accounts to obscure the source — and the very next day, Maggio slashed the jury's award by more than 80%. A federal judge sentenced Maggio to the maximum 10 years in prison. A federal appeals panel unanimously upheld both his conviction and sentence in 2017. Maggio was released from federal prison in 2021 after serving less than half of his sentence.