Minor wants judicial bribery sentence tossed

JACKSON — Imprisoned former attorney Paul Minor has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn his sentence in a Mississippi judicial corruption case.

Minor is appealing a decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last August that upheld sentences of Minor and former judges Wes Teel and John Whitfield. Prosecutors say Minor backed loans for the judges in exchange for favorable court rulings.

In court documents, Minor has argued prosecutors didn’t prove he received something in return for guaranteeing loans for Teel, a Chancery Court judge, and Whitfield, a Circuit Court judge.

Prosecutors say Minor guaranteed the loans, then used cash and third parties to pay the debts. They say the judges then ruled in his favor in civil cases. Minor was sentenced in 2011 to eight years in prison.