Former Judge Casey Moreland Pleads Guilty To Federal Charges

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Former Davidson County General Sessions Judge Casey Moreland is a convicted felon.

He pleaded guilty in federal court to five felony counts.

Moreland did not want to take his case to trial which was scheduled for next month.

He stood in front of a judge and admitted to crimes that will send him to prison for years.

Moreland came into the courtroom looking older than his sixty years.

He wore a green jail outfit and had a full gray beard.

He spoke softly as he admitted to obstruction of justice, witness tampering, stealing money from an organization that receives federal funds, destroying documents and conspiracy to retaliate against a witness.

U. S. Attorney Don Cochran said after the guilty plea that Moreland's behavior violated the public's trust.

"He was sworn to uphold the law instead of doing that he violated the oath and dishonored the robe he wore," Cochran said.

Prosecutors initially charged Moreland with ten criminal counts but he pleaded guilty to five.

One charge stemmed from undercover video taken by an FBI informant inside Moreland's home last year.

It captured Moreland talking about planting drugs on his former mistress in an attempt to discredit her.

Moreland's defense attorney Peter Strianse said with the evidence against Moreland it was the right decision not to go to trial.

Moreland also pleaded guilty to stealing cash from the Drug Court Foundation which he helped start.

Nan Casey who worked along side Moreland has already pleaded guilty in the case and provided undercover audio of Moreland talking about taking cash from self paying clients at Drug Court.

Federal sentencing guidelines suggest Moreland could get up to four years in prison, but his attorney will argue for less.

He says Moreland has been kept in solitary confinement for his protection and his time in jail has taken a toll.

"Make no mistake Judge Moreland has felt the full force of this prosecution," Strianse said.

Prosecutors say they will push for a tough sentence, but it will be up to U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw.

Sentencing is set for August 31.

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Former Judge Casey Moreland Pleads Guilty To Federal Charges

Judge grants Casey Moreland’s request to go see ill mother in Indiana

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – A judge has granted Casey Moreland’s request to go out of state to see his elderly and ill mother who is in hospice care in Indiana.

According to the filing, Moreland, who remains under house arrest per the conditions of his release from custody, will visit with his mom at her Indiana home on Friday and Saturday of this week.

The document states he will leave with his wife and sister on Friday morning and return back to Nashville on Saturday.

While in Indiana, Moreland will stay at his mother’s home.

The former Nashville judge was indicted last Tuesday by a federal grand jury on five counts of obstruction of justice. He’s accused of taking steps to obstruct and interfere with an FBI investigation by devising a scheme to pay a material witness to take back her previous statements.

Moreland has since pleaded not guilty to those federal charges.

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Judge grants Casey Moreland’s request to go see ill mother in Indiana

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Nashville judge faces federal criminal charges

Nashville judge faces federal criminal charges

NASHVILLE — The federal government on Tuesday filed criminal charges against a Tennessee judge, alleging he tried to bribe a woman to recant her allegations against him.

General Sessions Judge Casey Moreland, 59, was charged with attempting to obstruct justice through bribery and witness tampering, Acting U.S. Attorney for Middle Tennessee Jack Smith announced. Moreland was taken into custody Tuesday morning and appeared in court Tuesday afternoon.

The chains around Moreland's ankles, clanking on a tile floor, could be heard even before he was led into the courtroom. U.S. Magistrate Judge Joe Brown read the possible penalties Moreland is facing, including a maximum 20-year prison term.

"Do you understand what you're charged with and the possible punishment?" Brown asked.

"Yes sir," Moreland replied, seated in a button-down and khakis next to his lawyer, Peter Strianse of Nashville. Asked for comment as he was leaving the courtroom, Moreland did not respond.

Moreland will next appear in court Friday afternoon for a hearing to determine if he will remain in custody pending trial.

Moreland, a judge since 1998, was the subject of an FBI investigation related to allegations that he helped people he knew in exchange for things — including sexual favors, travel and lodging. Among the allegations documented in police reports and accounts were that he intervened in a traffic stop for a woman he had a personal relationship with and waived jail time for his future son-in-law.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Moreland tried to pay a woman thousands of dollars to recant her allegations against him. That occurred after March 1, more than one month after the FBI began an inquiry.

"The allegations set forth in the indictment set forth egregious abuses of power by a judge sitting here in Nashville," Smith said in a statement.

A criminal complaint based on an affidavit of FBI Special Agent Mark Shafer lays out the investigation, which used confidential sources who are unnamed in the complaint.

Photo of money used in a bribery attempt by Judge Casey Moreland, according to federal officials (Photo: Shelley Mays / USA Today Network - Tennesseee) 
 

A man, who initially lied to FBI agents about his role, later said he had schemed with Moreland.

According to the affidavit, that man said the judge was concerned their calls were being monitored, so he purchased for the judge a “burner phone,” a temporary cellphone that is often associated with criminal activity.

On March 11, while the confidential source was working for the FBI, he met with Moreland. In that meeting, the man told the judge he had met with a woman making public allegations against Moreland and that she would sign an affidavit saying she had lied.

The meeting was recorded, according to the FBI, and during it Moreland handed over the draft affidavit, $5,100 cash and an explanation.

“This right here gets me out of trouble,” Moreland said, according to the FBI documents. Federal officials say Moreland instructed the man to get the woman "liquored up real good" before asking her to sign the affidavit.

After being told the woman wanted to make changes to it, Moreland handed over another $1,000 to sign it as-is, federal officials said.

Moreland also discussed a plan to have drugs planted on the woman, and then discovered by police during a traffic stop he would orchestrate, according to the complaint. Federal officials said the goal was to destroy the woman's credibility.

Also Tuesday, as the charges were being announced, Metro Councilman Jeremy Elrod filed a resolution calling for Moreland's resignation. And Mayor Megan Barry said resigning would "seem to be in the best interest" of residents who depend on the integrity of the courts.

"Nashville deserves to have absolute trust in our judiciary, and Casey Moreland, based upon the allegations in the federal complaint, seems to have clearly violated that trust," Barry said in a statement.

Moreland is one of 11 General Sessions judges in Nashville. Each earns $170,000.

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Nashville judge faces federal criminal charges