AP

RALEIGH, N.C. - A former North Carolina trial judge says he illegally offered a law enforcement officer beer and money to produce text messages he believed would show his wife was having an affair.

Former state Superior Court Judge Arnold Ogden Jones pleaded guilty Thursday to a federal charge of promising gratuities to a public official.

A jury in October convicted Jones of crimes including bribery, but a different judge ordered a new trial. Two charges were dropped in return for Jones’s guilty plea.

Jones lost a re-election bid in November.

Prosecutors said Jones promised cases of beer and $100 to an officer who would pressure his wife’s mobile phone provider to provide text message records. Jones knew that was prevented by law except during a criminal investigation.

Information from: The News & Observer, http://www.newsobserver.com