Stripper: Judge paid for sex, drugs
ATLANTA - A veteran federal judge faces drug and firearms charges after an exotic dancer at an Atlanta strip club told authorities that he used cocaine, marijuana and other illegal drugs with her.
ATLANTA - A veteran federal judge faces drug and firearms charges after an exotic dancer at an Atlanta strip club told authorities that he used cocaine, marijuana and other illegal drugs with her.
Senior U.S. District Judge Jack T. Camp was arrested Friday, minutes after he handed an undercover law-enforcement agent $160 for cocaine and Roxycodone, a narcotic pain medication he intended to use with the exotic dancer, authorities said in a court document released yesterday. They said that they also found two firearms in the front seat of his vehicle.
Camp, 67, was released yesterday on a $50,000 bond. His attorney, William Morrison, said after a brief hearing that the judge intends to plead not guilty.
"This is really a case between Judge Camp and his wife," said Morrison. "It's not about Judge Camp being a judge. It's about him being a husband."
Camp's arrest set up an unusual domino effect in the federal courthouse. The district's federal judges all recused themselves, so Magistrate Judge Charles S. Coody, of Alabama, was brought in to hear the case. Federal prosecutors from Washington also flew in to handle the government's arguments.
The charges against Camp were laid out in a shocking eight-page affidavit.
Camp met the informant, who recently began cooperating with the FBI, at the Goldrush Showbar, in Atlanta, in early 2010, and soon began paying her for sex and buying cocaine from her at $40 to $50 a pop, according to the records.
In June, Camp followed the informant to a drug dealer in Marietta to buy Roxycodone. He was also recorded in a wiretapped telephone call on Sept. 28 talking with her about getting together over the weekend to split more pills and cocaine, according to the charges.
He showed up at a supermarket parking lot in northeast Atlanta about 7:15 p.m. Friday to meet with an undercover agent posing as the dealer. When the informant said she was worried about his safety, the judge told her, "I not only have my little pistol, I've got my big pistol so, uh, we'll take care of any problems that come up," according to the affidavit.
He handed over $160 to pay for the drugs about 7:35 p.m. Ten minutes later, authorities arrested the judge and seized the two guns from the front seat of his vehicle.
The judge faces four drug-related charges and one count of possessing firearms while illegally using drugs.
It's a stunning turn for Camp, a Vietnam War veteran appointed to the bench by Ronald Reagan in 1987. He is a former chief judge for the northern district of Georgia.
"Judge Camp's wife is an extraordinarily strong woman, and she's going to stand by her husband," said Morrison. "And this is a very strong man. He's going to overcome these circumstances."
