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Rochester City Court Judge Leticia Astacio was led from Judge Stephen Aronson’s chambers in handcuffs this morning, after returning from Thailand to report to Administrative Judge Craig Doran as ordered.
She was arraigned shortly before 11:30 in City Court before Judge Aronson, who advised her to plead guilty to a “declaration of delinquency” and spend 45 days in jail, followed by a year of probation. The judge told Astacio she’s “self-sabotaging any chance” she has of returning to the bench. He also told her that her attitude was “contemptuous.”
Astacio refused the plea offer and was sent to jail pending a hearing on Thursday. It will look into both her absence and evidence that she violated the terms of the conditional discharge of her DWI conviction. She’s being held without bail. No explanation was given for her trip out of the country.
Judge Astacio returned from Thailand Sunday night, where she’s apparently been since the first week of May, saying in a now-famous text that she was “living in the mountains with monks.” She apparently intended to stay there through the summer. Astacio was ordered back by the state’s Chief Administrative Judge who said her absence might be evidence of abandonment of public office.
An arrest warrant was issued for Judge Astacio last week after she failed to show up for a scheduled court appearance in her drunken driving case; an appointment that was scheduled after she left without telling the courts what she was doing. Three police officers went to the judge’s chambers and took Astacio into custody, the judge smiling and making no comment except to warn videographers they were about to back into a group of spectators as she was led away to be processed.
Asked if Judge Astacio will be fired, Judge Doran said “we are exploring our options.” Technically only the State Commission on Judicial Conduct can remove an elected judge from office, but the “abandonment of public office” clause might come into play.