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.

Full Article & Source:
Former Judge Casey Moreland Pleads Guilty To Federal Charges

Former Nashville judge indicted on obstruction charges in embezzlement case

A federal grand jury in Tennessee has returned a superseding indictment against a former Nashville judge on obstruction charges stemming from an alleged scheme to embezzle cash from a nonprofit drug treatment facility, the Department of Justice said.

Cason “Casey” Moreland, 60, was originally indicted in April 2017 on five counts of obstruction of justice.

The superseding indictment returned Wednesday adds five new counts, including two additional obstruction of justice counts, including witness tampering and destruction of documents, two counts related to theft from a program receiving federal funds and one one count of committing an offense while on pretrial release.

Mr. Moreland was a judge for the General Sessions Court of Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County. He heard civil, criminal and traffic cases as well as presided over the General Sessions Drug Treatment Court, a specialized court designed to provide alternatives to incarceration for low-level defendants.

The Drug Treatment Court is supported by the nonprofit Davidson County Drug Court Foundation. Prosecutors allege Mr. Moreland began embezzling cash from the foundation in the spring of 2016. Mr. Moreland is alleged to have directed to the Drug Court Foundation’s director to deliver envelopes with the organization’s cash to him in exchange for allowing the director her compensation according to court documents.

The superseding indictment alleges that after learning of the investigation, Mr. Moreland took steps to interfere with the investigation. He is accused of ordering the Drug Court Foundation’s director to destroy documents that would show the amount of cash that had been paid to the Foundation and ultimately stolen by Moreland.

He is also alleged to have attempted to tamper with a witness by suggesting that she lie to the grand jury investigating his conduct, according to court documents.

This case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by trial attorneys Lauren Bell and Andrew Laing of the Department of Justice Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Cecil VanDevender of the Middle District of Tennessee.

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Casey Moreland to stay in jail after second round of obstruction charges

Former Nashville judge Casey Moreland will stay in jail while he awaits a trial on obstruction of justice charges, a federal judge said Tuesday.

The decision came days after authorities accused Moreland of making a second attempt to throttle their ongoing corruption investigation.

Moreland was first charged with interfering in that investigation last March, when investigators say he bribed a woman who had made allegations against him.

His trial was set for June 2018, but he was allowed to stay at home in the meantime, wearing an ankle monitor. The terms of his release forbid him from talking to any potential witnesses in the case against him.

Then, on Thursday, the  FBI released a stunning new criminal complaint that included new allegations that Moreland had tampered with a witness as recently as Feb. 13.

The complaint said he worked with a woman, identified as "CS-1," to siphon thousands of dollars away from the Davidson County Drug Court Foundation over the course of years. After the FBI launched its investigation, the complaint said, Moreland asked her to destroy evidence of the crime.

This year, Moreland suggested ways the accomplice — who was working with the FBI — could lie to a grand jury investigating the theft, according to the complaint. Prosecutors worked with the woman to tape several conversations with Moreland.

At a hearing on the new charges, Moreland's defense attorney argued that U.S. Magistrate Judge Joe Brown could allow Moreland to remain free on bail with stricter rules

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cecil W. VanDevender balked.

"You only get so many chances to have the benefit of the doubt," he said.

Brown ultimately sided with prosecutors, although he left the door open to reconsider of Moreland's mental health deteriorates. Moreland's wife testified that he had battled depression and had been forgetful in recent months, possibly showing signs of Alzheimer's Disease.

"You can always ask for a reconsideration," Brown said. "It still remains a very close case, it's just that I came down on the other side this time."

Moreland is being held in Grayson County Detention Center in Kentucky. He came to court Tuesday in a teal jumpsuit with his legs in shackles and his hands cuffed behind his back.

Moreland's attorney Peter Strianse said Brown's decision was disappointing if predictable. But he used Tuesday's hearing, which ran about three hours, to lay out the framework of a legal theory against the theft allegations in the latest criminal complaint.

Authorities say "CS-1" and Moreland pocketed thousands of dollars in payments from patients the foundation's treatment center.

Strianse said federal authorities do not have jurisdiction to prosecute theft from the foundation.

"That money is in no way federal money," Strianse said. "There is no federal ownership of that money."

VanDevender argued the federal investigation was valid because of a U.S. law against theft from an organization that receives federal funds. Federal grants go to the foundation, he said.

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FBI questions second Nashville judge in Casey Moreland case

At least one other Nashville judge is entangled in the criminal allegations against Casey Moreland and is likely to be a witness in the case, officials say.

General Sessions Presiding Judge Gale Robinson saw an affidavit Moreland fabricated in an attempt to undercut reports Moreland traded legal favors for sex, according to federal prosecutors.

Moreland is accused of trying to pay more than $6,000 to bribe a woman in exchange for her signing a statement that she never received special treatment from him. 

Robinson, who took over for Moreland after he resigned in April, saw the phony statement and discussed it with Moreland before Moreland was arrested on obstruction and witness tampering charges, federal prosecutors said. 

Prosecutors and Moreland's lawyers sparred in a brief Tuesday afternoon hearing during which Moreland sought to have a GPS monitor removed before his trial in June.

A federal judge denied the request, but the hearing revealed new details about the ongoing probe circling the embattled judge and his life after the bench.

Robinson, a fellow judge and longtime friend of Moreland's, has been interviewed by the FBI, said Peter Strianse, Moreland's lawyer. It's unclear if Robinson alerted the FBI about the affidavit or spoke with investigators for another reason.

Robinson wouldn't answer questions from The Tennessean about his role.

"I’m not going to comment on any federal investigation or that federal case," he said Tuesday.

The person who gave the woman the affidavit, James Pedigo, wore a wire for the FBI to record some of his interactions with the woman. Pedigo, a semi-pro wrestler known as "The Beast," already pleaded guilty to his role.

Even after Moreland's release from jail in March, he tried to meet with Robinson by going to Robinson's family's funeral home, prosecutors say. They say those actions showed Moreland flouted a condition of his probation that he have no contact with potential witnesses.

The ex-judge was put on GPS monitoring and home confinement in March shortly after his arrest. He was later allowed to visit his dying mother out-of-state and attend her funeral.

But even U.S. Magistrate Judge Joe Brown called the home confinement liberal on Tuesday, after prosecutors said Moreland was able to leave home for things like running errands. 

And Moreland was back to work as of about one week ago, said Strianse, who declined to provide details about the ex-judge's employment except to say it's a 9-to-5 business job in Nashville.

Moreland was indicted on five counts in April and has pleaded not guilty.

If convicted of each count, Moreland could face a maximum of 80 years in prison and a fine of $1.25 million, prosecutors have said. However, it's likely he would receive a shorter prison sentence as he has no criminal history.

A trial is scheduled for June 2018.

A related public corruption investigation is ongoing, and it's unknown when that will wrap up. Strianse argued that "phantom investigation" makes it hard for Moreland to obey the condition that he not have contact with potential witnesses. 

"We're really hamstrung not knowing who the witnesses are," Strianse said. 

Cecil VanDevender, an assistant U.S. attorney, argued that, given Moreland's former profession, the ex-jurist is well aware of the potential witnesses in the case. 

"The person in the best position to know who the witnesses are is Mr. Moreland," he argued in court.

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Arrest of Williamson County judge included in judicial complaint

WSMV Channel 4 NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) - A complaint filed with the Board of Professional Responsibility about Judge Casey Moreland and attorney Bryan Lewis also included a mention of a 2010 solicitation of prostitution charge for an attorney who would go on to become a Williamson County judge.

The complaint was filed one day after the Channel 4 I-Team investigation on a death investigation of a woman just days after she went on a weekend trip with Moreland and Lewis.

The complaint also includes a section that mentions the arrest of Williamson County Judge Michael Binkley, who was an attorney at the time.

According to the complaint, and confirmed independently by the I-Team by a source who was there at the time, Binkley’s case was heard by Moreland.

The complaint reads that Binkley’s charge was dismissed and then quickly expunged.

The I-Team has been investigating the circumstances surrounding the dismissal of this case for two months.

Last week, the I-Team asked Moreland for an interview to discuss Binkley’s case and other topics.

Moreland later told chief investigative reporter Jeremy Finley by phone that he could not discuss the case because it had been expunged.

There is no record of Binkley’s case in the Davidson County court system, which is typical when an expungement occurs.

The complaint described the dismissal and expungement as done in a, “highly unusual manner, both in timing and procedure.”

The I-Team did speak with Judge Binkley, who said he had no comment.

Binkley’s attorney at the time, Ed Yarbrough, also said he had no comment.

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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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Casey Moreland's law license suspended

NASHVILLE, TN (WSMV) - Casey Moreland has now been banned from practicing law.

The Tennessee Supreme Court temporarily suspended Moreland’s law license on Wednesday.

The decision was made “upon finding that Mr. Moreland poses a threat of substantial harm to the public.”

An extensive Channel 4 I-Team investigation exposed how Moreland was doing legal favors for women who claim to have had sexual relations with him.

Moreland was charged with federal crimes last week, including obstruction of justice.

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Undercover Recordings At Center Of Moreland Case

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Undercover FBI video and audio recordings shed light on the charges against Davidson County General Sessions Judge Casey Moreland.

Federal prosecutors played the recordings in Moreland's preliminary hearing on Friday.

He is charged with obstruction of justice through bribery and witness tampering.

The recordings show Moreland talking about planting drugs on his former mistress and reveal his efforts to pay her in exchange for signing an affidavit recanting parts of her story.

Moreland had no idea the man he was meeting in his home on March 16 was helping the FBI.

The man had a video camera and told Moreland about a fictitious discussion he had with a police officer who offered to plant drugs on Moreland's former mistress, Natalie Amos.

Moreland asked, "What does he want?"

The informant responded, "I don't know if he wants anything. He just... I think his thing is as long as it don't come back to him. And I said "Don't worry about that.'"

Moreland asked, "Is he going to be the one to pull her over?"

The informant responded, "He'll be the one to pull her over. But he's just, his main thing is that it don't come back to me."

Judge Moreland then asked if the officer had a drug dog.

He also wanted to know where the officer worked.

"Who does he work for?" Moreland asked.

"He does something for the DEA and he works part time for another agency," the informant said.

Prosecutors emphasized there was never an officer who was going to plant drugs.

Toward the end of their meeting, Moreland asked the informant if he still had Amos' license plate number which Moreland had given him earlier.

The informant said, "I got it written down where nobody could see it. So yeah, I still got the tag number. So I got that."

Moreland said, "You ought to be able to find her with that."

The phone calls deal with Moreland trying to get Amos to sign an affidavit.

Through the same informant, Moreland offered her money if she would sign.

But the FBI pretended that Amos wanted to keep marking out parts of the affidavit.

"Tell her I have to have that," Moreland said on the phone.

The informant responded, "You gotta have that there was no sex in the office?"

"Right," Moreland answered.

Prosecutors say Moreland wound up paying $6,100 in exchange for Natalie Amos signing the affidavit.

They found the affidavit with Amos' fake signature in the possession of Moreland's attorney, Worrick Robinson.

"I can't talk about the affidavit or anything surrounding the affidavit other than what was discussed today in open court," Robinson said after court Friday.

Moreland's other attorney, Peter Strianse, indicated the plan was to leak the affidavit to the media.

He claimed leaking a document to the media would not be obstruction of justice, which is a federal crime.

He said it may just be an example of poor judgment.

Full Article & Source:
Undercover Recordings At Center Of Moreland Case

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.

Full Article & Source:
Nashville judge faces federal criminal charges

What's next for Nashville Judge Casey Moreland?

In the next 30 days, embattled Nashville General Sessions Judge Casey Moreland — with the guidance of his lawyer — will respond to state judicial misconduct investigators probing the veteran jurist's relationships with those in his courtroom.

Moreland was formally notified of the Board of Judicial Conduct investigation this week, his lawyer, Worrick Robinson, confirmed Friday.

"He will be responding and cooperating," Robinson said. The formal notification triggers a monthlong deadline for Moreland to deliver his side of the story to ethics investigators, though the judicial oversight body said publicly a week prior it was investigating Moreland. The announcement came after several Nashville news outlets, including The Tennessean, reported on allegations in a police report that Moreland had sexual relationships with women who appeared in his courtroom.

Moreland last week told WKRN News 2 he did not intend to resign. The judge has not spoken to The Tennessean despite repeated requests.

The investigation of his actions, if it results in a finding of misconduct, could lead to a settlement, private or public discipline or procedures to remove Moreland, which requires the Tennessee General Assembly to sign off.

It is rare the board opts for the most severe sanction, which is recommending a judge be removed. According to the Tennessee Constitution, then the Tennessee House and Senate must each vote by a two-thirds majority to remove a judge.

Since 1971, the judicial conduct board has recommended only five judges be removed, according to state reports.

Former Tennessee Judge David Lanier is shown with his daughter, Leigh Anne Johnson, in 1992 after his conviction on federal civil rights charges in Memphis. Lanier had been sentenced to 25 years for sexually attacking five women in his courthouse office from 1989 to 1991. The Supreme Court ruled March 31, 1997, that a federal appeals court used the wrong legal standard when it struck down the judge's criminal conviction. The justices rejected Lanier's argument that there is no constitutional right to be free from such sexual attacks by government officials.(Photo: File / AP / The Commercial Appeal)

The last time a judge was removed by the legislature was in the '90s. The conduct board (then called the Court of the Judiciary) recommended the removal of Dyersburg Chancellor David Lanier after Lanier was convicted of federal charges related to “sexual assaults on named victims,” administrative reports read.

According to media reports, women who worked at the Dyersburg courthouse accused Lanier in 1992 of fondling them and pressuring them for sex. One woman who had a child custody case before his court said he forced her to perform oral sex after summoning her to his office.

The House and Senate each unanimously voted to remove Lanier.

A state court history report says between 1991 and 2011, after discipline was sought against a judge, the most common outcomes were private discipline or the judge leaving office. Each occurred 46 times in that time period. There also were 36 deferred discipline agreements, in which judges resolve issues involving minor misconduct through treatment or rehabilitation.

Since 2011, more than 20 Tennessee judges have been publicly disciplined.

The 16-member Board of Judicial Conduct's goal, according to Tennessee law, is to make inquiry into the "physical, mental and moral fitness of any Tennessee judge."

Waiting for Moreland's response to the ethics inquiry is Tim Discenza, the chief disciplinary counsel for the conduct board since 2010. Before that he was a federal prosecutor in Memphis for more than three decades.

If his investigation leads to a public reprimand, state law says notification will be sent to the General Assembly because Moreland has received that same level of discipline before. In 2014, Moreland was publicly reprimanded for intervening in a domestic violence case at the request of Bryan Lewis, a Nashville lawyer and longtime friend of the judge.

READ the reprimand Moreland received related to 2014 domestic violence case.

Lewis and Moreland went on a trip together in April, which has prompted current scrutiny of the nearly 20-year judge. A woman on the trip, 34-year-old Leigh Terry, committed suicide about a week later, a police report says. Nashville police investigating her death talked to two of Terry's friends who reported Terry had slept with Moreland while she had a driving under the influence case in Moreland's courtroom, the police report says.

Moreland's actions are now facing scrutiny from the FBI as well as judicial ethics investigators. Since the allegations surfaced, Moreland has taken a brief medical leave, stepped back from overseeing two specialty court programs while seeking alcohol abuse treatment and resigned as presiding judge. He continues to hear criminal cases assigned to his courtroom.

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What's next for Nashville Judge Casey Moreland?

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Metro General Sessions Judge Casey Moreland resigns as presiding judge

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Investigation underway into inmate/deputy relationship in judge’s court