The Nation : Federal Judge Convicted

A jury in Hattiesburg, Miss., convicted U.S. District Judge Walter L. Nixon Jr. of two counts of perjury but found him not guilty of a third perjury count and of receiving an illegal gift. Nixon, only the third federal judge to face criminal charges when on the bench, wept as the verdicts were read. Judge James H. Meredith set sentencing for March 31. Nixon remains free on bond. The government alleged that Nixon, chief judge for Mississippi’s Southern District and on the bench since 1968, accepted $60,000 worth of oil and gas interests from wealthy businessman Wiley Fairchild in exchange for the judge’s help in trying to get state drug charges dropped against Fairchild’s son, Drew.