ARKANSAS
A former district court judge in Arkansas was arrested Thursday in Little Rock on criminal charges related to his alleged solicitation of sex in exchange for agreeing to take action on a criminal case pending before his court, officials stated.
In April 2022, Carruth allegedly solicited sex from the girlfriend of a defendant in exchange for expediting that defendant’s trial date.
Carruth is charged by indictment with three counts of honest services wire fraud, three counts of using a facility in interstate commerce in furtherance of unlawful activity, one count of bribery, one count of making false statements, and one count of obstruction of justice.“A female has made a false accusation against me,” Carruth said when reached by phone by KARK4.
Carruth said the woman offered to “do anything” to get her boyfriend out of jail and claims the attempted bribery happened when the two ran into each other outside of court, according to KARK4.
The judge said he rejected the offer and immediately notified State Police and the FBI, KARK reported.
“I’ve done everything I’m supposed to do,” Carruth said. “When someone tried getting me to do something, I contacted authorities.