Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: N.Y. judge held in extortion case Date: Mon, 9 Nov 92 14:59:57 EST Message-ID: \SE A;NATION \SS (WS) \HD N.Y. judge held in extortion case \SH Former girlfriend called target \BY ASSOCIATED PRESS \DT ALBANY, N.Y. ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Judge Sol Wachtler, chief of the state's court system, frequently has been mentioned as a potential Republican candidate for governor or a possible U.S. Supreme Court nominee. Yesterday, he was being held in a hospital psychiatric ward, charged by federal authorities with threatening a former girlfriend and her daughter in an extortion scheme. As chief judge of New York's seven-member Court of Appeals, Judge Wachtler presides over the state court system and its more than 5,000 judges. "It's so out of character," said Mary de Bourbon, spokeswoman for the state's Office of Court Administration. She said Judge Wachtler attended a dinner for court employees just last week. "He was cordial, dignified - his usual self," she said. Judge Wachtler, 62, was arrested Saturday by FBI agents on charges he harassed his former lover, tried to extort money from her and threatened to kidnap her 14-year-old daughter. He was arrested while driving to his home on Long Island. Judge Wachtler faces a bail hearing in federal court tomorrow, said FBI spokesman Joe Valiquette. Mr. Valiquette would not say why Judge Wachtler was being held in the psychiatric ward. Judge Wachtler's term doesn't expire until 1999, although he could voluntarily suspend himself from the $120,000-a-year post pending the outcome of the case, or be suspended by the other members of the court. As of yesterday, the court had taken no action, Miss de Bourbon said. The court is not scheduled to meet until Nov. 17. Judge Wachtler was accused of making threatening calls since April to a New York woman and sending sexually explicit letters to her and her daughter. He acted out of anger after his relationship with the woman ended about a year ago, authorities said. Judge Wachtler has been married for 41 years and is the father of four. His wife, Joan, told a reporter for the New York Daily News that she knew nothing about the charges. "I don't understand any of it," she said outside the family's Manhasset condominium. She also said there were no difficulties in their marriage: "No problems at all." While the criminal complaint identified the other woman only as "J.S.," several news organizations said she was Joy Silverman, a wealthy socialite and major Republican fund-raiser. President Bush once nominated Miss Silverman to be ambassador to Barbados, but the Senate Foreign Relations Committee killed the nomination after Democrats claimed her only qualification was as a GOP fund-raiser. There was no answer yesterday at her Manhattan home. Authorities said Judge Wachtler demanded $20,000 in exchange for "embarrassing" tapes and photographs, purportedly of the woman and her new boyfriend. Judge Wachtler, a Republican, has frequently been touted as a potential candidate for governor. He was named chief judge in 1985 by Gov. Mario Cuomo, a Democrat. "For all the years I have known Sol Wachtler, his integrity and character have been beyond question," Mr. Cuomo said yesterday. "His life has earned him the presumption of innocence that the law guarantees him." State GOP Chairman William Powers said he felt "shock and dismay." He said he knew nothing of an affair between Judge Wachtler and Miss Silverman. Sources familiar with the probe, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said yesterday that Judge Wachtler had been tailed by agents after a caller had told the woman to leave $20,000 in the basement of a Manhattan building. One law enforcement source said Judge Wachtler was observed tearing up documents just before his arrest. He never picked up the money. Judge Wachtler joined the state Court of Appeals in 1972 after serving on the state Supreme Court for four years. In New York, the appeals court is the highest judicial body and the Supreme Court is the state's main trial court. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM