U.S. District Judge Thomas Ludington pleaded not guilty to probation violation Monday while being arraigned in a northern Michigan courtroom after being accused of failing to submit to twice-weekly alcohol and drug tests as part of his probation and drunk driving conviction.
Ludington’s lawyer, Jonathan Steffy, entered the plea during a two-minute hearing in front of 90th District Judge Angela Lasher in Petoskey. Ludington appeared virtually alongside his lawyer to face allegations he failed to undergo testing during the first week of probation May 13-20.
Lasher scheduled a follow-up hearing on the probation violation for June 22.
“Do you understand the allegations?” the judge asked Ludington.
“I do, thank you judge,” Ludington said.
The alleged probation violations emerged last month at a delicate time as Ludington tries to return to the bench after a rare and embarrassing scandal and amid questions about whether he drank alcohol on the job. Ludington, 72, took voluntary paid leave from his $249,900-a-year lifetime appointment in February after The News revealed his arrest.
Nominated by Republican President George W. Bush and commissioned to a lifetime appointment in 2006, Ludington is not expected to return to the federal bench in Bay City soon amid an investigation by the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The probe was prompted by a judicial watchdog group’s misconduct complaint filed against him.
Ludington has been compliant with the probation department but was trying to find an approved testing facility near his home in Midland County, a source familiar with his case told The News. The source spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a sensitive legal matter.
The testing facility and protocol had not been finalized the first week of Ludington’s probation, leading to the alleged technical violation.
The hearing Monday happened almost one month after Ludington was sentenced to six months’ probation for crashing into two signs along a curved road in Springvale Township, near his $2.7 million vacation home east of Petoskey, on Oct. 3.
He was accused of being legally “super drunk” at the time of the crash because he registered a 0.27% blood-alcohol level ― more than three times the 0.08 % legal limit. Ludington continued hearing cases for four months after the crash until after The News revealed the arrest.
Ludington pleaded no contest to one misdemeanor count of operating while intoxicated in exchange for the dismissal of a more serious super drunk charge.
Many state court judges consider missed alcohol and drug screenings as positive tests, experts told The News. The judges have wide latitude when considering possible punishment for probation violations and Ludington had the ability to fight the allegations or admit violating probation.
Possible punishment could have included an extended period of probation, or jail time.
Ludington faced up to 93 days in jail this spring after pleading no contest in the drunk driving case, which is treated the same as a guilty plea at sentencing. In Michigan, it is illegal to drive with a blood-alcohol content of .08 or higher, and the state considers 0.17 or higher as super drunk.
Ludington has denied drinking alcohol Oct. 3 despite failing numerous field sobriety tests, has raised questions about how the alcohol got into his system and whether he was drugged.
Ludington, who appeared to have urinated on himself during the incident, was accused of repeatedly lying to Michigan State Police troopers about whether he drank alcohol. He also failed field sobriety tests, state police records show.
“A, B, C, D, E, F, U,” Ludington said when asked to recite part of the alphabet during one sobriety test, according to body camera footage from the incident The News obtained through a public records request.
rsnell@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Federal judge Tom Ludington in ‘super drunk’ scandal returns to court
Reporting by Robert Snell, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Robert Snell, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
