CINCINNATI -- A federal judge wrote this week that former judge Tracie Hunter's attempt to get out of serving a jail sentence should be denied.
Hunter, a former Hamilton County juvenile court judge, is facing a six-month sentence for unlawful interest in a public contract after she helped her brother, a county employee, in a disciplinary hearing. Eight other charges against her were dropped.
She has avoided jail since the 2014 conviction so far. Hunter filed a write of habeus corpus she filed, challenging both her conviction, accusing the special prosecutor of misconduct and arguing that her constitutional rights were violated.
Last year, Judge Timothy Black decided Hunter could remain free until the issue was decided.
United States Magistrate Judge Karen Litkovitz wrote in a 68-page report and recommendation this week that Hunter had not proven her case.
Hunter has two weeks to file any objections to the recommendation.
Hunter was elected to the bench in 2010, but the Ohio Supreme Court suspended her in 2014 after she was charged with judicial misconduct.
