From: [C upi] at [clari.net] (UPI)
Newsgroups: clari.usa.law.misc,clari.local.illinois.chicago,clari.news.alcohol+drugs
Subject: Narcotics Court judge busted for pot
Keywords: legal, illegal drugs, criminal proceedings, legal professionals,
        nonviolent crime
Organization: Copyright 1996 by United Press International
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 1996 8:00:36 PDT
Location: Belize
                                         
        CHICAGO, July 10 (UPI) -- A Narcotics Court judge has been reassigned  
following his conviction for possessing a small amount of marijuana 
while vacationing in the Central American nation of Belize. 
        The Chicago Defender Wednesday said Judge Frank D. Edwards was fined  
$1,000 June 24 when a security officer found about 4 1/2 ounces of pot in 
his luggage after he arrived at Philip SW Goldson Airport in Belize 
City. 
        Edwards was on a vacation in Belize, an English-speaking Central  
American country located between Mexico and Honduras. 
        The Belize Times said the security officer found 4.9 grams of  
marijuana, worth about $20, and that Edwards admitted the drug was his 
and pleaded guilty in court. Edwards, 44, a night Narcotics Court judge 
in Cook County Criminal Court, asked to be temporarily reassigned to 
another court system when he was confronted with newspaper articles 
about his arrest upon his return to Chicago. 
        Presiding Judge Thomas Fitzgerald said Edwards ``is a wonderful young  
judge'' and praised his intelligence and honor. But Fitzgerald admitted 
he was saddened by the incident and said for Edwards to remain on the 
narcotics court bench ``would create an improper appearance.'' 
        ``The integrity of the court is very important to him,'' Fitzgerald  
told the Defender. Fitzgerald said Edwards would be replaced by another 
judge in Narcotics Court but did not say whether he would seek to have 
Edwards removed from the bench.