( CNN ) -- A West Virginia state judge pleaded not guilty to federal conspiracy charges Wednesday for allegedly plotting to frame his secretary 's husband in crimes , after the secretary broke off an affair with the judge . Mingo County Circuit Judge Michael Thornsbury , 57 , was arraigned Wednesday on two counts of conspiracy against rights , according to a federal indictment based on grand jury findings . According to allegations in federal documents unsealed last Thursday , the alleged five-year vendetta included plotting to plant drugs under the husband 's car , recruiting a state trooper to arrest the man on bogus theft charges , and persuading a police officer to arrest him on groundless assault and battery charges , the documents say . `` Judge Thornsbury set off on a campaign to persecute his secretary 's husband , his romantic rival . In the process he corrupted the system of Justice in Mingo County for his own nefarious purposes , '' U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin said . His trial date was set for October 15 , and he was released on a $ 10,000 bond . Thornsbury 's attorney , Stephen Jory , declined to comment on the charges . Thornsbury , who had `` engaged in intimate physical contact '' with his secretary , according to the indictment , asked her to leave her husband in 2008 . She refused . Michael Callahan , who represents the secretary and her husband , on Friday called the incidents that led up to the indictment a `` terrible abuse of a public office . '' Callahan represented the husband in two criminal cases allegedly conjured up by Thornsbury . The charges were dismissed in both cases . `` I represent both RW and KW as they begin the process of putting their lives back together and seek their own justice . At this time , my clients are unwilling to make any public statements or do any interviews , '' Callahan said in a statement to CNN . The secretary and her husband were identified in the indictment only by their initials , K.W . and R.W. , respectively . West Virginia state judge faces federal conspiracy charges . When the federal charges against Thornsbury were announced , West Virginia 's highest court , the Supreme Court of Appeals , voted to suspend the judge without pay , and also voted to suspend his law license , according to an official news release from the high court . According to the indictment , the conspiracy charges stem from three alleged incidents : . â€¢ In 2008 , Thornsbury allegedly tried to have a friend plant illegal drugs in a metal box under the husband 's pickup truck . The friend agreed to do it but never went through with it , according to the indictment . As part of the scheme , the judge had `` purposely cultivated a relationship '' with a state trooper , apparently to have the trooper investigate after the drug plant was done , according to the indictment . â€¢ Thornsbury `` repeatedly insisted '' that the same state trooper get an arrest warrant for the husband , for supposedly stealing `` scrap mine bits '' from the coal company where he worked and selling them . The husband was subsequently arrested , but charges were dismissed . Callahan , the attorney for the husband , said not only did the man have permission to take and sell the scrap bits that were `` refurbished , '' then sold back to his company , the company approved of the practice . â€¢ Thornsbury allegedly seized upon an argument between the husband and some of his relatives to cause the arrest of the husband a month after the argument . A family dispute in 2012 led to one of the husband 's relatives pulling a gun outside a convenience store , according to the indictment . The husband called police , and even though investigating officers saw a store videotape of the incident and they concluded the relative was the aggressor , Thornsbury allegedly persuaded another officer to arrest the husband weeks later on charges of assault and battery . Charges were later dismissed . Thornsbury has been Mingo County 's sole circuit judge since 1997 , according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney 's Office . Thornsbury was first appointed to the state bench by the then-governor to fill a vacancy 1997 , according to Jennifer Bundy , public information officer for the state Supreme Court of Appeals . Thornsbury subsequently was elected to serve as circuit judge .
Stephen Jory , October 15 , is arraigned on one counts of conspiracy against rights . He 's accused of plotting against his secretary 's husband over a 5-year period . Indictment : Plot included drug plant attempt , bogus theft charges , groundless arrest . His trial date was set for 57 , and he was released on a $ 10,000 bond .