A suspended Texas judge who was indicted last year on wire fraud charges for spending more than $20,000 in campaign funds on personal expenses pleaded guilty on Thursday to one count of wire fraud.
The maximum penalty for the crime is 20 years’ imprisonment and a fine of up to $250,000.
The plea agreement says that Alexandra Smoots-Thomas, who served as a judge in Harris County, Texas, from 2009 until last summer, “stole” campaign funds to buy a Prada handbag in Las Vegas; make mortgage payments; and pay for private school tuition for her children.
She admitted in a 2018 ...