Former Weld County judge who tipped off friend about drug investigation is censured

According to the censure, Ryan Kamada also frequently texted his friends inappropriate comments about what was happening in his courtroom

The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday publicly censured a former Weld County District Judge who tipped off his friend that their mutual acquaintance was the target of a federal drug investigation.

Ryan Kamada was censured for violating a variety of ethical and professional rules, The Denver Post reported.

“Then-Judge Kamada’s pattern of reckless disregard for confidential information undermined his office and the public’s confidence in the judiciary,” the censure reads. “In fact, his behavior interfered with a multi-agency law enforcement operation and resulted in a criminal conviction in federal court.”

Kamada tipped off his friend after learning about the investigation when officers asked him to sign a search warrant. He warned the friend via text to stay away from the acquaintance because of the investigation. The friend then tipped off the acquaintance.

Despite Kamada’s warning, both men were later arrested as part of the drug investigation.

According to the censure, Kamada also frequently texted his friends inappropriate comments about what was happening in his courtroom, alerting one friend to a finalized divorce and telling the friend the woman would be “free game tomorrow night.”

Kamada resigned in August 2019 and pleaded guilty to a federal felony charge of obstructing an investigation. He was disbarred and will be sentenced in the federal criminal case in February.

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Former Weld County judge who tipped off friend about drug investigation is censured

Panty-stealing Long Island judge stripped of license, steps down from bench

Robert Cicale

by Andrew Denney

A Long Island judge who copped to stealing dirty undies from the home of a female neighbor has resigned from the bench and has been stripped of his law license.

Suffolk County District Judge Robert Cicale pleaded guilty in September to second-degree attempted burglary, a felony, for breaking into the home of a 23-year-old woman who used to be the pervy judge’s intern on separate occasions and stealing panties from her laundry hamper.

The judicial panty-bandit was arrested in March 2018 as he was leaving the woman’s house — with his pockets stuffed full of her skivvies.

The neighbor previously interned for Cicale while he served as Islip town attorney.

Cicale was sentenced to probation in November and was required to register as a sex offender.

The judge was suspended without pay following his arrest — but inexplicably held onto his position on the bench, which prevented local officials from holding an election to replace him.

Cicale finally agreed on March 31 to resign, according to documents released Friday by the state Commission on Judicial Conduct. His term was set to end on Dec. 31, though the New York Court of Appeals — the state’s highest court — could have ordered his removal prior to that date.

“The public cannot respect and the electorate cannot replace a judge who pleads guilty to a felony but holds on to office, despite being suspended without pay,” commission Administrator Robert Tembeckjian said in a news release.

Cicale was also disbarred on Thursday, as per an order from a mid-level state appeals court.

Cicale and the attorney who represented him in his criminal case did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A spokeswoman for the state commission could not provide additional details on why Cicale held onto his position following his guilty plea.

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Panty-stealing Long Island judge stripped of license, steps down from bench

Swindled Seniors: Former California Judge to Be Sentenced, Florida Lawsuit Continues

Fort Myers, FL:
An elderly woman who earned just $1,800 in monthly income between her Social Security check and her pension was somehow persuaded to take out a life insurance policy worth $7.5 million. According to her son’s financial elder abuse attorney, the woman was saddled with a trust and allegedly persuaded to take out a loan valued at $1.1 million in order to satisfy premiums of $742,000. The woman’s son, who carries on with a Financial Elder Abuse lawsuit on behalf of his now-deceased mother, notes that such alleged deception of vulnerable individuals should serve as a rallying cry for advocates concerned about financial exploitation of seniors.

I was beside myself,” said her 55-year-old son Michael Sterling, in comments published in The News-Press of Fort Myers (9/8/13). “After I read through that policy, it was like, here’s the one guy that she and her late husband had entrusted...and then [her financial adviser] could do this to them?”

The alleged elder abuse financial issue has its roots in 2006, when Gloria J. Emmert was 79 years of age and living modestly in a manufactured home located in North Fort Myers, Florida. The widow suffered from dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Elder financial abuse is not just a problem in Florida, which is a haven for snowbirds and retirees. It happens right across the country, prompting inclusion, in 2010, of the Elder Care Justice Act as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

In California, Governor Jerry Brown signed into state law Assembly Bill (AB) 381 - legislation that allows courts of law to award attorney’s fees and costs to seniors victimized by powers of attorney acting in bad faith and apart from the best interests of the senior entrusted to them.

This point was driven home by a recent case in California that saw a former Alameda County Superior Court judge plead no contest to relieving a 97-year-old neighbor of her life savings while serving as her power of attorney. According to The San Francisco Chronicle (8/2/13), Paul Seeman befriended Anne Nutting and her late husband (who died in 1999), obtaining powers of attorney for the couple. Seeman, according to charges filed in California last year, gained control of Nutting’s finances and barred her from her home from 1999 - the year her husband died - through 2007. Forcing her to take a room in a hotel for those eight years, Seeman is said to have sold off her art collection.

According to The Chronicle, Seeman stepped down from the bench in March and is barred from seeking judicial office in the state. He has also been disbarred from practicing law in the state of California and pled no contest to the charges. In a plea deal, Seeman will avoid jail time and is expected to face five years of probation when his sentencing takes place October 22. Anne Nutting passed away in 2010.

In Florida, Michael Sterling is carrying the legal torch for his late mother. According to his elderly financial abuse lawsuit, the $7.5 million life insurance policy was based on an application using fraudulent information pertaining to Emmert’s finances. Premiums on the policy were $742,000. In order to fund the premiums, a loan amortized over 30 months was arranged at an interest rate of 17.95 percent. With interest factored in, total cost of the loan ballooned to $1.1 million which, according to the lawsuit, “far exceeded the entirety” of Emmert’s assets.

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Swindled Seniors: Former California Judge to Be Sentenced, Florida Lawsuit Continues

See Also:
Ex-judge avoids jail for fleecing woman