Judge Given 25 Years in Prison for Sex Assaults

MEMPHIS, Tenn. —  A judge convicted of sexually assaulting five women at his small-town courthouse was sentenced to the maximum term of 25 years in prison Monday.

Judge David Lanier, 58, also was fined $25,000 and ordered to pay the government $1,500 a month while imprisoned if he draws a state pension.

Lanier, a Chancery Court judge for Dyer and Lake counties in northwest Tennessee, was convicted in December on seven civil rights charges. He will appeal, his lawyer said.

State lawmakers soon are expected to consider impeaching Lanier, who continues to draw his $85,000 salary as a judge.

U.S. District Judge Jerome Turner said federal sentencing guidelines left him no choice but to give Lanier the maximum prison term: 10 years each on two felonies and one year each on five misdemeanors, all to run consecutively.

Lanier told the judge and lawyers in the courtroom, “All of you have done a good job, and I pray for all of you.”

The sentence gives Lanier no chance for parole, but defense lawyer Wayne Emmons said he can get two months’ credit for “good time” each year he behaves himself in prison.

Lanier was convicted of twice forcing one woman, who had a child custody case before his court, to submit to oral sex in his office. He was convicted of grabbing the other women on the breasts or buttocks.