More info on Neal case coming
By Greg Reeves
U.S. District Court Judge Howard Sachs has laid the hammer down on former KC Municipal Court Judge Deborah Neal (left), giving her 28 months in prison - above the normal sentencing guidelines.
(If you think the picture looks dated, you're right - it's from Neal's first days on the bench, in 1996 - the latest picture The Star has!)
Neal, 54, turned her judge's seat into a cash machine from attorneys, prosecutors charged. All told, she collected nearly $36,000 from 17 attorneys and three bonding companies, said U.S. Attorney Todd Graves.
Neal's guilty plea in May drew local coverage, a single mention from the White Collar Crime Professors blog, a few mentions in various gambling publications (Neal blamed her behavior on a gambling addiction) - and not much else, from what we can find.
In an unusual move, however, Sachs said he would release a redacted version of the pre-sentence investigation in Neal's case to the public.









