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"The chief justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ordered the temporary<br /><br />suspension of a Philadelphia Traffic Court judge who was indicted by federal authorities on fraud charges.<br /><br />A First Judicial District spokesman told local media that Chief Justice Ronald Castille sent a letter to the Traffic Court&rsquo;s administrative judge ordering the jurist to temporarily remove Traffic Court Judge Robert Mulgrew from the bench &ldquo;until further notice.&rdquo;<br /><br />Mulgrew, his wife, Elizabeth, and Lorraine Dispaldo, a legislative aide to state Rep. William Keller, D-Phila., were all arrested by FBI agents Sept. 13 after a federal indictment against the trio was unsealed charging them with scheming to defraud the Pennsylvania Department of Community Economic Development and filing false tax returns.<br /><br />The three are accused of using thousands of dollars in community development grant money for personal purchases.<br /><br />Also on Sept. 14, the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board filed a petition with the state&rsquo;s Court of Judicial Discipline seeking to suspend Mulgrew, who has been a Traffic Court judge since 2008, without pay pending his criminal trial.<br /><br />&ldquo;The pending felony criminal charges against Judge Mulgrew undermine both public confidence in the judiciary and its reputation,&rdquo; the petition states. &ldquo;If Judge Mulgrew is permitted continue participating in cases before the Philadelphia Traffic Court, the public&rsquo;s confidence in the judiciary and the judiciary&rsquo;s reputation will continue to erode.&rdquo;<br /><br />The grand jury indictment contains various counts of mail fraud, tax evasion and filing false income tax returns."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://pennrecord.com/stories/510552469-indicted-phila-traffic-court-judge-mulgrew-temporarily-removed-from-bench>