CHARLESTON, W.Va. — A suspended West Virginia judge has submitted his resignation ahead of a hearing in which he was expected to plead guilty to a conspiracy charge
The attorney for Circuit Judge Michael Thornsbury told The Associated Press that the jurist also has consented to disbarment in a letter to the state Office of Disciplinary Counsel.
The 57-year-old Thornsbury is accused of participating in a scheme to protect the reputation of slain Mingo County Sheriff Eugene Crum from revelations he'd bought drugs from a campaign sign-maker. Crum died in an unrelated shooting.
In exchange for a guilty plea, prosecutors said they would dismiss charges against Thornsbury in a separate case in which the judge repeatedly tried to frame his former secretary's husband for false crimes to eliminate him as a romantic rival.
Associated Press writer Vicki Smith contributed to this report from Morgantown.