Bronx Judge May Be in Deep Gambling Debt
Bronx Supreme Court Justice George Villegas may end up losing his seat if accusations of gambling and unpaid debts are true. Law-school classmate Janet Cohen is suing Villegas for borrowing $500,000 to allegedly pay off loan sharks. Legal ethics expert Monroe Freedman told the Post, "If a judge is involved with organized crime, I would be very concerned. It may be reason to remove him from the bench," but you don't need an ethics expert to figure that one out.
The suit claims that Villegas began borrowing money from Cohen in the late '80s, saying that "loansharks would soon break my legs and hurt my children." In 2006, Villegas allegedly signed a promissory note agreeing to pay the money back, but never did. "I have documentation, so I really don't know where he's going," said Cohen. Villegas' lawyer says they will fight the charges, telling the Daily News, "[He] is not a gambler and has never been a gambler. He's never had a relationship with a loanshark."
His friend Mickey Ponce said there is no way Villegas could be addicted to gambling. "The few times we've watched football games together I've had to explain what a spread was."
