The geauxjudge saga took an interesting turn recently

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When former Conway Circuit Judge Mike Maggio attempted recently to withdraw his guilty plea on federal bribery charges — a plea the judge originally entered more than a year ago — and dumped his two defense attorneys in favor of new counsel, it prompted speculation about what exactly Maggio could be trying to accomplish.

In a response to Maggio's motion to withdraw his plea, federal prosecutors on Friday told U.S. District Judge Brian Miller that Maggio broke the terms of his plea agreement and is now trying to avoid the consequences.

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Shortly thereafter, Maggio "ceased communicating with his counsel," and retained a new attorney in early February. In a motion to withdraw Maggio's guilty plea, his new lawyer, James Hensley, said that Maggio's previous attorneys had given him bad advice in suggesting that he plead guilty and that there was "no factual basis for the plea" from January 2015. Hensley's argument is partly a technical one — he claims the federal bribery statute in question doesn't apply in Maggio's case — but the motion to withdraw the plea also says the following.

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In their response filed on Friday, prosecutors urged Judge Miller to deny the request to withdraw the plea and argued against all of these points. Yes, the federal bribery statute applies, they say, and, no, Maggio's previous counsel wasn't particularly ineffective. And as for the idea that Maggio was threatened with prosecution of his wife:

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Further, except for a self-serving, one sentence, unsworn allegation, Maggio, a former attorney and judge, provides no detail or evidence suggesting he was forced to plead guilty or accept the statement of facts while protesting his innocence. If necessary, the United States will present testimony of Maggio’s former counsel that Maggio was never threatened, as he theatrically alleges in his motion, with the indictment and prosecution of his wife. Rather, Maggio was presented with the evidence of his own guilt, and the United States offered him the option to proceed by Information and Plea prior to presenting any Indictment.

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