Judge Brooks Blitch was a corrupt Georgia judge. Brooks Blitch presided for nearly 28 years as one of rural Clinch County Georgia's most powerful politicians. Then the senior judge was accused of repeatedly violating the law and judicial code of conduct as well as various ethical violations that dated back five years. Weeks after Georgia's Judicial Commission launched seven misconduct claims against him, new and more serious accusations have surfaced against the veteran jurist at the center of a federal corruption investigation. In a 22-page document the Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission accused Judge Brooks Blitch of using money collected from criminal defendants to illegally pay county employees and ordering the early release of violent felons convicted of child molestation, aggravated assault and theft. While a judge, Blitch conducted unethical, private meetings with litigants and later decided cases based on the information he learned during those closed door sessions, an FBI federal investigation showed. Judge Blitch was also charged with making unlawful orders of termination to keep his best friend's son, who had been arrested for felonies such as cocaine possession and burglary, out of prison and off of probation. In fact, the judge said on the record during a pre-trial hearing that he would not send his best friend's son to prison. Brooks E. Blitch III of Homerville, Georgia was sentenced in December 2009 in US District Court in Valdosta. Blitch pleaded ...