New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram announced yesterday the filing of corruption charges against nearly half of the Jersey City's municipal court judges. Four of ten magistrates had been caught in a ticket fixing scandal that surfaced last month.

Former Chief Judge Wanda Molina, 48, is accused of dismissing five parking tickets, worth more than $200, for a female companion. Judge Pauline Sica, 45, allegedly dismissed one parking ticket and reduced costs on a second ticket that Judge Victor Sison, 64, received. Judge Sica also knocked off the license points for a traffic ticket that one of Judge Sison's family members received. Judge Irwin Rosen, 52, was charged with dismissing his own $42 parking ticket.

"These judges broke the law," Attorney General Milgram said in a statement. "They violated their duties and put their interests ahead of the interests of justice."

Under the rules of the court, judges must recuse themselves from matters in which they have a personal or financial stake. Judges Molina, Sica and Sison face second-degree official misconduct charges which carry a sentence of up to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000. Judge Rosen was charged with third-degree official misconduct and faces five years in jail with a $15,000 fine. Two court employees were also suspended last month after being accused of fixing about sixty-five tickets.

The judges are ordered to appear in Hudson County Superior Court to answer the charges on November 1. Three of the judges are on unpaid leave pending the outcome of the proceedings. Molina had resigned on September 21 after the scandal became widely known.

A copy of the charges against each judge is found in a 420k PDF file at the source link below.