Feds: Judge reigned over Lower Southampton through bribery, extortion, sway with township board

From the chambers of his district courtroom, Lower Southampton Judge John Waltman routinely shook down businessmen looking to land government contracts and boasted of having the town's Republican-led board of supervisors under his thumb, investigators allege. When more subtlety was required, prosecutors say, Waltman met in office park parking lots to accept duffel bags stuffed with thousands of dollars in cash.