U.S. District Judge Makes Surprise Plea

HOUSTON (AP) _ A federal judge is retiring immediately after pleading guilty to obstruction of justice in exchange for dismissal of sex-crime charges against him.

The plea came as jury selection in the trial of U.S. District Judge Samuel Kent was set to begin today in Houston. Kent had been facing six charges _ five related to federal sex crimes and one for obstructing justice, in which he was accused of lying to an investigative committee.

The obstruction charge carries a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. He’d been the lone federal judge in Galveston when he was accused of groping two of his female former court employees and trying to force them to perform sex acts.

Kent was the first federal judge charged with a sex crime and would have been one of only a handful to be tried.

The 59-year-old jurist and his attorney told the presiding judge that he was taking medication for depression and anxiety as well as diabetes.

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