Faced with possible removal from the bench by an impeachment conviction in the U.S. Senate, U.S. District Judge Samuel B. Kent decided to resign 11 months earlier than he originally had announced, officials said.
In a June 2 letter to President Barack Obama, Kent announced he intended to resign next June from the federal bench he held in Galveston for almost 20 years. The move would have allowed him to continue drawing his $174,000 annual salary for another year.
Following June 19’s impeachment by the U.S. House of Representatives, the U.S. Senate on Wednesday summoned Kent, 60, to file an answer to four articles of impeachment ahead of a possible Senate trial, which would be the only way to remove him from his lifetime appointment to the bench.
When Kent was served Wednesday afternoon with the summons at the Federal Medical Center Devens administrative prison in Ayer, Mass., he signed a new letter of resignation, which was dated June 30 of this year, said a spokeswoman for Harry Reid, the Senate majority leader.
Reid and Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell issued a joint statement Thursday on Kent’s anticipated departure.
“After being served with a summons to file an answer to the articles of impeachment, Judge Kent signed a letter of resignation dated June 30, 2009,” Reid and McConnell said.
Thursday, the Senate directed the secretary of the Senate to deliver the new resignation letter to President Obama and a certified copy to the House. The letter also was referred to the Senate’s impeachment trial committee, and the Senate will determine appropriate action after the House has expressed its views about the development, the senators said.
Kent began serving a 33-month prison sentence June 15 after pleading guilty to an obstruction of justice charge in exchange for federal prosecutors dropping sexual misconduct charges.
The dropped charges stemmed from Kent’s admitted nonconsensual sexual contact with two female court employees, his caseworker, Cathy McBroom, and secretary, Donna Wilkerson.
Kent could be released early for good behavior Nov. 5, 2011. Senate and House members have expressed outrage that Kent continued to collect his salary while jailed.
“He did the right thing by resigning,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said in a statement. “He had disgraced himself and the federal judiciary.”
