A Judge Tried to Bribe an FBI Agent with “a Couple of Cases of Beer”

In what may very well be one of the oddest cases in recent memory of attempted bribery, a North Carolina judge has been charged with trying to bribe an FBI agent with "a couple of cases of beer" in the hopes of obtaining transcriptions of a text message conversation. A conversation that occurred between two members of his own family.

Superior Court Judge Arnold Ogden Jones II is the senior resident Superior Court judge for a North Carolina district spanning three counties. He's currently standing trial after allegedly texting an unnamed FBI agent and trying to get the agent to send him a copy of a text conversation that occurred between two numbers. The judge is accused of texting the agent and stating that the conversation was "just for [him]" and "involve[d] family members." In other words, the judge wanted to spy on his own family for reasons that have not yet come to light.

Nine days later, the FBI agent responded to the text. The agent told Judge Jones that there was "insufficient probable cause" to legally obtain the records—probably because the judge had made no allegation of any illegality. Still, the agent told the judge, he would continue to try to obtain the text messages if the judge liked. The judge replied in the affirmative, saying: "I want [it on the] down low—see what you can do without drawing attention … This involves family so I don't want anybody to know."

This is where the intrigue begins to turn surreal, because according to the indictment, Judge Jones and the agent met for a conversation in a parked car a week later to discuss payment for the information. And that's when our Machiavellian mastermind allegedly deemed it a good idea to offer up the cases of beer in return for illegally obtaining the text message transcript. The judge actually insisted this not be a mere favor, saying that he understood the task would take time and that he wanted to compensate the agent for providing the information.

The following Monday, the agent informed Judge Jones that he had the requested text exchange on a disk. The eager judge agreed to destroy the disk so as to prevent it being traced back to the agent and stated that he had "his paycheck." The indictment states that at this point, the judge agreed to a deal of $100 instead of the aforementioned beer.

Did we forget to mention that Judge Arnold Ogden Jones II just so happens to be the chairman for the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission? Maybe he can weigh in on his own case. Stranger shit has apparently happened.

All of this brings to mind a quote from high school literature class: "If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself." Judge Jones certainly didn't understand the true power of Orwell's evergreen phase, or he missed school that day. But he certainly could have used the advice. Judge Jones's case will be tried in federal court in North Carolina.