By JEFF AMY
Associated Press
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Former Mississippi lawmaker Cecil McCrory will try to persuade a judge to let McCrory withdraw his guilty plea.
U.S. District Judge Henry T. Wingate is scheduled to hear arguments Wednesday.
McCrory pleaded guilty last year to money laundering conspiracy. He wants to withdraw that plea and face a jury. McCrory says his lawyer didn’t adequately represent him earlier.
The former state House member told Wingate in a plea hearing that he bribed then-Corrections Commissioner Christopher Epps. McCrory faces up to 20 years in prison and is forfeiting $1.7 million in assets.
Prosecutors reject McCrory’s claims. They say McCrory never before asserted innocence, there’s no proof he was pressured into a plea, and that he waited too long to change his mind.
Epps awaits sentencing, having pleaded guilty to bribery-related charges.
Be the first to comment