Free Republic

A former Cook County judge who stole large sums of money from an elderly friend who served as a Tuskegee Airman received a probationary sentence on Friday. Patricia Martin, 66, received four years of probation after pleading guilty to theft of $100,000 to $500,000, according to court records. The judge also ordered her to pay $122,763.73 in restitution and comply with standard probation conditions that include random drug testing. Martin once served as presiding judge of the Child Protection Division and retired in 2020. Prosecutors initially accused her of stealing nearly $250,000 from then-95-year-old Oscar Wilkerson, a longtime friend whose...