CANTON – Former Fowler Justice Paul M. Lamson has pleaded guilty to giving beneficial rulings to defendants in exchange for sexual favors.

Lamson entered guilty pleas before Judge Derek P. Champagne in St. Lawrence County Court, to the charges third-degree bribe receiving, a felony, and official misconduct, a misdemeanor.

Lamson was the Fowler town justice from 2006 to December 1, 2016, when he resigned.

In St. Lawrence County Court, Lamson admitted to soliciting and accepting sexual favors from individuals who had pending criminal cases before him in Fowler town court, upon an agreement or understanding that his judgment, action, decision and exercise of discretion as town justice, would be influenced with respect to those defendants’ cases.

He further admitted that he did, in fact, provide favorable rulings on these defendants’ behalf.

For example, Lamson admitted that in exchange for sexual favors, he kept a defendant at liberty as opposed to sentencing that defendant to a period of incarceration. Lamson is expected to be sentenced to two to six years in state prison at the time of his sentencing on June 1, 2017.

On Feb. 24 the state Attorney General announced the guilty plea of Delmar House, the former West Carthage village justice in Jefferson County, for abusing his position as a judge by reducing a fine for a defendant in exchange for sexual favors, and by paying a portion of that defendant’s fines in exchange for additional sexual favors.

House pleaded guilty to bribe receiving in the third degree, and receiving a reward for official misconduct in the second degree, and is expected to be sentenced to up to six months’ incarceration and five years of probation.

“The St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office received information that initiated multiple operations with the assistance of the NYS Violent Crime Investigative Unit and the investigators of the NYS Attorney General’s Office over several months,” said St. Lawrence County Sheriff Kevin Wells. “Those operations yielded a successful arrest and conviction in a timely manner of Paul Lamson. The St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office will continue to work with their law enforcement partners to combat this and other crimes in St. Lawrence County.”

“Judges who exploit their positions in exchange for sexual favors show blatant disregard for their victims, the trust of the general public, and the judicial system as a whole,” said Attorney General Schneiderman. “We will continue working with our partners in law enforcement to root out public corruption and hold those individuals responsible accountable.”