Samuel Kent

Samuel Kent

Nonpartisan

Prior offices

United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas

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Education

Bachelor's

University of Texas, 1971

Law

University of Texas School of Law, 1975

Personal

Birthplace

Denver, Colo.

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Samuel B. Kent was an Article III federal judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. On June 15, 2009 Kent reported to prison after pleading guilty to a felony count of obstruction of justice. In exchange for his guilty plea on that count, Kent had several charges of abusive sexual contact and sexual harassment dropped. Kent resigned on June 30, 2009, avoiding a impeachment trial in the Senate.

Kent was formally impeached by a unanimous vote of the House of Representatives on June 19, 2009.

Early life and education

A native of Denver, Kent graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with his bachelor's degree in 1971 and his J.D. degree in 1975.

Professional career

Kent spent his pre-judicial legal career as a private practice attorney practicing around Galveston, Texas from 1975 to 1990.

Judicial career

Southern District of Texas

On the recommendation of Texas U.S. Senator Phil Gramm, Kent was nominated by President George H.W. Bush on August 3, 1990, to a seat vacated by Hugh Gibson as Gibson assumed senior status. Kent was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on September 28, 1990 on a senate vote and received commission on October 1, 1990. Kent was succeeded in this position by Marina Marmolejo.

Sex abuse case

Original charge and plea

Judge Samuel Kent was charged in August 2008 with committing sex crimes. His former case manager, Cathy McBroom, accused him of physically harassing her over a four-year period. In September 2008, Kent pleaded not guilty to three original charges which included two counts of abusive sexual contact and one count of attempted aggravated sexual abuse.

Guilty plea

On February 23, 2009, Judge Kent pleaded guilty on a felony count of obstruction of justice. In exchange for the plea he got five of the most serious charges against him dropped. Kent was sentenced to 33 months in prison.

Because Kent pleaded guilty to the obstruction charge, he avoided trial on five other charges against him. U.S. District Judge Clyde Vinson of the Northern District of Florida presided in the case.

“

I understand the crimes to which I have agreed to plead guilty, the maximum penalties for those offenses and sentencing guideline penalties potentially applicable to them.

”

Impeachment

On May 17, 2009, Chief Judge Edith Jones of the Fifth Circuit recommended that Judge Kent be impeached and ordered that he not be given disability status. In a letter sent by Chief Judge Jones to Kent's lead lawyer Dick DeGuerin, said no to the disability status claim asserting that "a claimant should not profit from his own wrongdoing by engaging in criminal misconduct and then collecting a federal retirement salary for the disability related to the prosecution." Jones did note that until he was indicted, Kent "continued to handle a high volume of cases expeditiously," so did not appear to be disabled or impaired.

Judge Samuel Kent was impeached by the House of Representatives on June 19, 2009 with all 435 members of the House voting to approve four articles of impeachment. During the proceedings, both the Republican and Democrat camps criticized Kent for collecting his taxpayer salary during his recent stint in prison.

On June 25, 2009, Samuel Kent sent a letter to President Barack Obama indicating that he would officially resign on June 30, 2009.

Imprisonment

On June 15, 2009, Judge Kent reported to a federal prison in Ayer, Massachusetts that specializes in care for felons with medical or mental health issues.

House Impeachment Proceedings

Congressman Jim Senenbrenner (R-WI-5) Floor Statement on Judge Kent's Impeachment

Congressman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA-6) Floor Statement on Judge Kent's Impeachment

House Judiciary Committee testimony from victims

See also

• Impeachment of federal judges

External links

• Judge Kent's letter to the House Judiciary Committee in regards to impeachment
• Fifth Circuit Judicial Council order denying Judge Kent disability status
• Transcript of the House Judiciary Committee task force on Judicial Impeachment on Judge Kent
• Impeachment materials from the House Judiciary Committee
• Rebuttals from Samuel Kent defense team
• News Reports on Kent's Impeachment
• Judge Kent's Biography from the Federal Judicial Center

Footnotes

Political offices
Preceded by: Hugh Gibson	Southern District of Texas 1990–2009 Seat #5	Succeeded by: Marina Marmolejo