Delmar House Admitted To Reducing Fine For Defendant In Exchange For Sexual Favors While Serving As Justice For Village Of West Carthage
Schneiderman: We Will Continue Prosecuting Public Corruption; No One Is Above The Law
Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced the guilty pleas of Delmar House, the former Village Justice for the Village of West Carthage Court in Jefferson County, for abusing his position as a Judge by reducing a fine for a defendant who appeared before him in exchange for sexual favors, and by paying a portion of that defendant’s fines in exchange for additional sexual favors. House today entered guilty pleas before The Honorable Kim H. Martusewicz in Jefferson County Court, to the charges of Bribe Receiving in the Third Degree in violation of Penal Law § 200.10, a class “D” felony and Receiving a Reward for Official Misconduct in the Second Degree in violation of Penal Law § 200.25, a class “E” felony.
“This was an abhorrent abuse of office,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “We will keep working to root out and prosecute public corruption in all of its forms. Any conduct that compromises the integrity of public office will not be tolerated.”
House was the Village Justice for the Village of West Carthage Court from January 1, 2008 through March 2016, when he resigned. According to filed documents and statements made in court today, in or about April 2015, House, 49, of Carthage, agreed to and did reduce the fine for a defendant appearing before him in the Village of West Carthage Court for Vehicle and Traffic Law offenses, in exchange for sexual favors from that defendant. In addition, according to documents filed in court and statements made in court today, House paid a portion of that defendant’s fines in exchange for more sexual favors.
House is scheduled to be sentenced on May 2, 2017. According to statements made in court today, in exchange for his guilty pleas to the entire indictment, Judge Martusewicz is expected to sentence House to up to six months’ incarceration and five years of probation. Judge Martusewicz is also expected to order the defendant to pay a $5,000 fine at the time of sentencing.
The Attorney General thanks the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct, New York State Police Investigator Joseph Maurer, and the New York State Police for their work on this matter.
