A Pennsylvania judge faces criminal charges for allegedly dismissing traffic tickets against herself that included expired registration on her BMW, the state's attorney general said on Monday.
Magisterial District Judge Kelly Ballentine, 43, of Lancaster, faces conflict of interest, tampering with public records and obstruction charges in the case, Attorney General Linda Kelly said in a statement obtained by Reuters.
Lancaster police issued two tickets to Ballentine in November 2010 for parking violations in front of her home. She got a third ticket for out-of-date registration on her BMW sedan, the statement said.
Ballentine failed to pay the tickets on time and summonses were mailed to her. The judge then accessed the online court system records and dismissed the summonses, which had been issued in her name, it said.
Ballentine was arraigned on Monday and released on $25,000 bond, the statement said.
Ballentine was not immediately available to comment.
According to the Lancaster New Era website, Ballentine was put on paid leave until the criminal charges, nine of which are felony charges, are resolved.
Pennsylvania's judicial conduct rules require judges to disqualify themselves in proceedings where they are a party, the Lancaster paper reported.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News


How are people expected to put their trust in the judicial system when you have judges pulling this crap?
Well, karma played its card...ah, karma, just makes ya feel all warm and fuzzy when it happens.
Geeze, a crooked judge. Big Surprise.
So that's how it works. I picked the wrong profession
I hope it was worth it. Stupid *itch!!!
Surprise Surprise!
Judicial Integrity is down the tubes just like political integrity and presidential integrity. Just can't realistically expect folks to respect it any longer. Paid time off is just a reward for corrupt judge.
What else did this psychopathic sicko do while on the bench? Bring back the Old-lady justice of the Peace. They didn't know how to use computers, and did not go to Law School.
What she did was unethical, but calling her a "psychopathic sicko" is a little much.
What should be said in cases like that? Geez, how can people trust criminal justice professionals when such clowns abuse the system?
What is learned in most cases is that unfortunately people in power, can and will try to cheat the system. No, not all of them but that kind of trust has to be earned.
Gender does not matter, met someone of the opposite gender past couple of days that reminded me that there are many snakes in the grass and they all look different. Pompous, self righteous, full of shortcomings, trying to impress smarter people with unimportant personal life facts. Oh, the list goes on and on.
So sick of people like that who try to prove that they are superior by stomping others into the ground. Try to prove themselves and their pathetic way of life to shake others. It is unbelievable how many people out there are so insufficient in the way they live, physical and mental. When someone ignores their physical health or ignores their mental health, when someone does not even try to improve their life then I can not find any kind of respect for a person like that. And if someone like that tries to cheat the system, tries to sound important in ridiculous ways, I tend to get physically ill. And often those are the exact ones that have nothing to show for. Big words, big heads, big whatever..... Oh the humanity.
People like that we are forced to live with, work with, but as soon as we can we will always get away from: "POMPOUS SELF RIGHTEOUS LEADERS THAT CHEAT".
Since police generally refrain from giving judges tickets in the first place, she must have done something to tick them off. She probably did not go along with the local old boy club or she would have known another judge would have dismissed them for her as a "professional courtesy". These are the well known but less nice side of the law enforcement society.
So why is this judge on PAID leave pending the investigation? It would make more sense to me to cut her off and give back pay if the information is all wrong -- not give her wages they'll never get back!
My feelings exactly.
She must be represented by the teacher's union.
And how many people out there think this is the first time this has happened? Get a clue people...
This goes on over and over, just that this judge must has pissed off someone who found out and they decided to let the cat out of the bag...
Just like when they catch a serial killer, every one is surprised - no one knows about it until that murderer is caught and confesses...
But then again judges are above the law like elected officials being imune to the laws when they break them, like DUI...
No one thinks this is the "first time" this has happened, and I would submit that the majority don't believe it is that far from the norm.
I DO applaud them for bringing charges.. especially considering there are felonies involved.
But as Dukembe above noted, why is she on PAID leave? It should be unpaid with reimbursement if and when found innocent, which in this case I doubt.
I DO like it when the sanctimonious "judges" are on the other side of the bench though.
So,what has changed? When I lived there in the late 60s early 70s the essiest way to figure out who was was the crooks was to look for thr local judge or JP.
Look up Narcissistic Personality Disorder- the definitions and characteristics will probably describe someone you know. We all posses Narcissistic traits but some folks are completely afflicted by the disorder.
Including most politicians.
Trustworthiness is a combination of competence and integrity. Does anybody wonder why we get the government we do, when even those who are sworn to uphold the law and mete out justice are morally bankrupt and ethically challenged? If the three branches of government held a contest to see which was the least trustworthy, it would be a dead heat for last place. The unfortunate thing is that this is the tip of the iceberg. In a society where the only sin is getting caught so red-handed that you can't lie, bribe or coerce your way out of it, behavior like this has become pervasive. How did we let it get this bad?
dukembe,
You hit the nail on the head, it never ceases to amaze me why when public officials are accused of wrong doing they are always put on paid leave, which if they are proven guilty, that money will never be seen by the taxpayers again. They most certainly should be on unpaid leave as you suggest and then reimbursed for back pay if proven innocent.
Ya think?
We broke this story on DaddyJustice.com last June. then we used the internet and video to push this through to prosecution.
There will be no mention of that. perhaps they do not want to inspire more video justice nor admit the regular press could have done this job but they wont.
One for the citizens.
Corrupt officials beware - the American citizen is armed with camera and coming at ya.
Ben
Daddy Justice
Above the law. Not!
We'll probably find out later that the judge spoke to the ticketing officer and that officer said they'd take 'care' of it...then 'forgot'.
Time to take a spin on the other side of the bench!
Paid administrative leave for breaking the law.. I call BS.. I think the broad is a total A-Hole.. You find people like this are hypocrites and go harder on people that get parking tickets even thou she did this for herself..
Paid leave? Really?
Judge Ballentine, and all judges for that matter, should be beyond reproach so it goes without saying that she should pay for her actions. Having stated that, for the most part her crime is a relatively victimless crime. Let's see if the "powers that be" in Florida punish a judge (and ex-prosecutor) who is a criminal—a criminal that has willfully and egregiously left victims in his wake—as harshly as he should be punished. The Florida judge (and former prosecutor) is David P. Kreider. In Alachua County Florida (i.e. “Gator Country”) Judge David P. Kreider is currently under fire for his proven crimes and we should be reading a story about his criminal prosecution before too long. Judge David P. Kreider's proven criminality is, amongst other things, a stain on the judicial system and his crimes committed under the color of law are irrefutable. That being the case it is an undeniable fact that David P. Kreider should lose his judgeship, lose his license to practice law, be permanently barred from practicing law, serve a prison sentence... For the record, Judge Kreider and his corrupt cronies have been reported. The Alachua County Family and Civil Justice Center (in Florida's 8th Judicial Circuit and under the administration of Chief Judge Martha Lott) and the State Attorney’s Office of the 8th Judicial Circuit of Florida (along with its Chief Investigator Spencer Mann), as well as other agencies, are now aware of the crimes carried out by Judge Kreider and his co-conspirators. The aforementioned agencies have been provided with more than 100 pages of documentation. This documentation includes an organized and detailed report and comprehensive supporting evidence of criminal activity perpetrated by Judge David P. Kreider and his co-conspirators during the “Gibson case”. All judges must be held fully accountable and be made to honor the same laws that they subject average citizens to on a daily basis.