Former judge pleads guilty to trading rulings for sex

Posted 3/3/17

Paul M. Lamson, the former Judge for the Town of Fowler Justice Court in St. Lawrence County, pleades guilty to abusing his position by giving beneficial rulings to defendants that appeared before …

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Former judge pleads guilty to trading rulings for sex

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Paul M. Lamson, the former Judge for the Town of Fowler Justice Court in St. Lawrence County, pleades guilty to abusing his position by giving beneficial rulings to defendants that appeared before him in exchange for sexual favors.  Lamson entered guilty pleas on March 3.

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman and St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office and the New York State Police  announced the guilty pleas. “Judges who exploit their positions in exchange for sexual favors show blatant disregard for their victims, the trust of the general public, and the judicial system as a whole,” said Schneiderman.

A joint investigation by the Attorney General’s Office, the St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office and the New York State Police revealed that Lamson had solicited defendants who had criminal cases pending before him in Fowler Town Court, to perform sexual favors and that in exchange for those sexual favors, Lamson agreed to use his authority as a Judge to assist those defendants in their criminal cases. The investigation further revealed that Lamson did, in fact, issue favorable rulings for the benefit of those defendants.

“The St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office received information that initiated multiple operations with the assistance of the NYS Violent Crime Investigative Unit and the investigators of the NYS Attorney General’s Office over several months,” said  Wells. “Those operations yielded a successful arrest and conviction.

New York State Police Superintendent George P. Beach II said “It is deplorable for any entrusted public official to use their authority and public office to take advantage of others especially in this manner. Judge Lamson was appointed by the people in his community to uphold the law and used the very bench that he presided over to break the law himself and to victimize and manipulate the individuals he was sworn to protect through a fair judicial process."

Lamson was the Town Justice for the Town of Fowler Justice Court from 2006 to December 1, 2016, when he resigned. Lamson admitted to soliciting and accepting sexual favors from individuals who had pending criminal cases before him in the Town of Fowler Justice Court, upon an agreement or understanding that his judgment, action, decision and exercise of discretion as the Justice for the Town of Fowler Court, would be influenced with respect to those defendants’ cases. Lamson further admitted that he did, in fact, provide favorable rulings on these defendants’ behalf. For example, Lamson admitted that in exchange for sexual favors, he kept a defendant at liberty as opposed to sentencing that defendant to a period of incarceration. Lamson is expected to be sentenced to two to six years in state prison at the time of his sentencing on June 1, 2017.

This is the second such case recently prosecutyed in New York. On February, 24th, the Attorney General announced the guilty plea of Delmar House, the former Village Justice for the Village of West Carthage Court in Jefferson County, for abusing his position as a Judge by reducing a fine for a defendant who appeared before him in exchange for sexual favors, and by paying a portion of that defendant’s fines in exchange for additional sexual favors. House pleaded guilty to Bribe Receiving in the Third Degree, and Receiving a Reward for Official Misconduct in the Second Degree, and is expected to be sentenced to up to six months’ incarceration and five years of probation.  

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