Ex-judge blames his actions on wife's affair
But prosecutor says kickback scheme has lined Austin's pockets for decade JAMIE SATTERFIELD, satterfield@knews.com
Saturday, August 26, 2006
A former Roane County judge captured on videotape taking thousands of dollars in kickbacks is blaming his estranged wife's affair with a woman for his foray into public corruption.
Thomas Alva Austin, 58, who pleaded guilty earlier this year to forcing kickbacks from men he handpicked to head up a traffic school and probation office, contends it was his second wife's fling with a woman that drove him over the legal edge.
"In early 2005, while Mr. Austin and his second wife were in marital counseling, she admitted her year-long involvement in an extramarital lesbian relationship," defense attorney Gregory P. Isaacs wrote on behalf of the former Roane County General Sessions Court judge.
"Mr. Austin was quite distraught, sought medical help for depression and was prescribed anti-depressants," Isaacs wrote. "Additionally, he began drinking heavily despite earlier struggles with alcohol. All of the charges that are included in this indictment occurred after this difficult and tumultuous period in Mr. Austin's personal life." . . .
http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/local_news/article/0,1406,KNS_347_4944959,00.html