Langston Seeks To Have Conviction Vacated

OXFORD, Miss. (AP) – A former Booneville attorney is asking a federal judge to vacate his conviction for conspiracy to bribe a state judge.

Joey Langston pleaded guilty to the charge in 2008, served prison time and completed court ordered probation in the case.
Langston is seeking to throw out the conviction because of recent rulings about federal jurisdiction in alleged crimes involving state judges.

At issue is wording about the state judge receiving funding from the federal government and whether the allegation is actually federal program fraud.

A recent ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals say the attempted bribery of a state judge performing judicial business of Mississippi courts does not fall under the federal program fraud legislation.