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Special session called to impeach Justice Loughry

Photo Provided Impeachment proceedings against West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals Justice Allen Loughry, pictured, remain stalled even after his 11-count conviction by a federal jury.

CHARLESTON — Allen Loughry, justice of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, is about to be impeached for a second time.

Gov. Jim Justice issued a proclamation Friday afternoon calling the West Virginia Legislature into special session at 10 a.m. Tuesday. Unlike the previous impeachment effort over the summer, this special session is only focused on Loughry.

Loughry was originally scheduled to face an impeachment trial Monday but a ruling by an all-appointed supreme court Oct. 12 said that an impeachment trial against Chief Justice Margaret Workman had to stop — a ruling that also applied to impeachment trials for Loughry and former Justice Robin Davis.

Four justices — Loughry, Workman, Davis, and Beth Walker — were impeached Aug. 13 with failing to adopt travel policies, failure to report taxable fringe benefits, failing to supervise using of state purchasing cards, lack of home policies for use of state property, lack of vehicle use policies, lack of inventory controls and for not having purchasing procedures and requiring bids.

The House adopted a total of seven impeachment articles against Loughry over the $363,000 cost of his office renovations and furnishings, the overpayment of senior status judges, taking a Cass Gilbert desk and a couch donated to the court to his home, using state vehicles and fuel cards for personal use, using state computers at his home for use by his family and lying under oath to a legislative committee.

Loughry was convicted Oct. 13 by a federal jury on 11 felony counts, including mail fraud, wire fraud, witness tampering and making false statements. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of West Virginia brought 22 charges against Loughry in June shortly after the state Judicial Investigation Commission brought a judicial ethics complaint against the former chief justice.

He is scheduled to appear before the Judicial Hearing Board Jan. 16, 2019, and is scheduled to be sentenced in U.S. District Court two days later. He could face up to 190 years in federal prison and up to $2.75 million in fines.

Loughry’s conviction stems form use of a state fuel card when using the court’s fleet of Buicks for personal use, lying to federal investigators in March and witness tampering for trying to get a court employee to remember a conversation regarding office spending that they did not have.

He is currently suspended without pay.

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