U.S. District Judge Robert F. Collins was sentenced Friday to six years and 10 months in prison for scheming with a politically connected businessman to split a drug smuggler's $100,000 payoff.
The businessman, John Ross, was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison.U.S. District Judge Joseph Young of Baltimore, who imposed the sentences, said Collins betrayed a trust.
"This is a sad day for the judiciary, the defendants and their families. . . . I don't suppose there is any crime more corrosive to the judicial system than bribery," Young said.
Collins and Ross, who were convicted in June of bribery, conspiracy and obstruction of justice, showed little reaction as Young announced the sentences. Although Young ordered them to report to prison Nov. 6, defense attorneys said they would request that both remain free on appeal bonds.
"When people lose faith in the court system, you wind up with chaos and people taking the law into their own hands," said prosecutor James Cole of the U.S. Justice Department's Public Integrity Unit. "Today, people were shown that the system works."
Collins left the courthouse without commenting.
Ross said he was innocent and was "very optimistic" about his chance of winning a reversal.
"We've only begun to fight," he said.