New York Judge Gets the Boot for DUI, Probation Violation

By William Vogeler, Esq. on April 27, 2018 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

So another judge goes down for driving drunk to the courthouse...

No big deal, right? Some pilots smell of alcohol all the time, and it's not like judges are that important.

But what really reeks is how this New York judge got a raise while the court system figured out what to do with her. That bites, as in tax bites.

Bad Judge

Judge Leticia Astacio was convicted of drunk driving two years ago. She was more than two times over the legal limit when she crashed on her way to work.

She was placed on probation, ordered not to drink, and had an interlock device affixed to her car. According to reports, she failed miserably.

Astacio kept trying to start her car after the device detected alcohol. She got into an argument with a security guard who said she was intoxicated. And just for fun, she had photos on Facebook of her apparently drinking at a party.

Her case really got off the chain when she failed to appear for a court-ordered drug test. She texted her attorney that she was living in a temple in the mountains with monks.

Good Measure

A bench warrant and way too much later, the New York Commission on Judicial Performance kicked her off the court. It was more than two years after she she crashed.

"This is the result of what she did, and the choices she made," said John Postel, deputy commissioner of the judicial conduct panel. "What this says to the public is, 'This judge is unfit, and you should have no confidence in her.' "

It was about time the commission said something, too. Astacio was making $187,000 annually at the time of her defrocking.

That was a raise of $14,000 since her conviction.

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