Federal judge pleads guilty to drug charge

Camp must serve at least 15 days in custody. Federal sentencing guidelines recommend a term of four to 10 months in prison, although Camp and his attorneys can ask for a more lenient sentence. Camp will be sentenced March 4.

Camp, 67, entered his plea in Atlanta before Senior U.S. District Judge Thomas Hogan, a judge from Washington assigned to the case by U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. At the outset of the hearing, Hogan noted he would have the final word on the sentence and said he made sure any plea deal reached with Camp would not entail an agreed-upon sentence.

As he began the hearing, Hogan referred to the white-haired, bespectacled defendant from Newnan as "Judge Camp." As Hogan ended the proceeding, he was calling the former jurist "Mr. Camp."

Before accepting the plea, Hogan recited the sordid details of Camp's relationship with the stripper, his use of drugs and his bringing handguns to drug deals to lay a foundation for the plea. He then asked Camp if the summary was true.

Stammering, Camp apoligized, saying, "I regret ... I'm embarrassed it is, your honor."

After the hearing concluded, Camp gave his wife, who was sitting on the front row behind him with other family members, a long embrace.

The plea agreement reached with prosecutors from the U.S. Justice Department's public integrity section did not require Camp to plead guilty to possessing a handgun during a drug transaction, which would have brought a far more severe potential sentence. The plea deal also does not penalize Camp for possessing handguns as part of calculating a potential term under the federal sentencing guidelines.

Camp, a member of a prominent Coweta County family, was appointed to the federal bench by President Ronald Reagan in 1988. He was serving as chief judge when he took senior status at the end of 2008.

Camp was arrested in early October, and a detailed affidavit by an FBI agent accused the judge of buying cocaine, marijuana and prescription painkillers. The affidavit said Camp shared the drugs with an exotic dancer he met last spring at the Goldrush Showbar in Atlanta.

Camp, who is married, met the dancer when he purchased a private dance from her, the affidavit said. He returned the next night and purchased another dance and sex from her, and the two then began a relationship that revolved around drug use and sex, according to court records.

The stripper began cooperating with the FBI, and on Oct. 1 she asked Camp to follow her to a drug deal to protect her. Camp agreed, saying, "I'll watch your back anytime. ... I not only have my little pistol, I've got my big pistol so, uh, we'll take care of any problems that come up," the affidavit said.

That evening, Camp and the stripper met in a grocery store parking lot and then drove to another location to meet the "dealer," who was an undercover law enforcement agent. Minutes after the deal was consummated, FBI agents arrested Camp and recovered the drugs and two pistols from his car.

Outside the courthouse after the hearing, Washington lawyer Judson Starr, a member of Camp's legal team, read a prepared statement that said Camp "deeply regrets the recent circumstances that have brought him here today."

Starr noted he has known Camp for 40 years since they served together in the military in Vietnam. He said he was the best man at Camp's wedding and was with him when his children were born.

Camp will spend the coming months with his family "to address the harm of recent events upon those close to him, upon his colleagues and upon the citizens of Georgia," Starr said. "Judge Camp holds himself accountable for his personal actions and will strive to better understand and overcome the causes of his poor judgment."