Reports: $56,000 got judge his job

NEW YORK, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Two New York newspapers say a deposed Brooklyn politician allegedly sold a judgeship for at least $50,000 in cash and another $6,000 in stamps.

The Village Voice reported that former Brooklyn Democratic Party Chairman Clarence Norman allegedly got Supreme Court Judge Howard Ruditzky his job for $56,000. The New York Daily News reported Sunday, quoting sources, that Ruditzky testified before a grand jury that he paid $70,000 to Norman to be promoted from the Civil Court.

Grand jury testimony is secret, and the Daily News reported that when it asked Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes about Ruditzky testifying, he said that was "untrue."

Norman, meanwhile, has already been sentenced to two to six years in prison for an unrelated campaign corruption charge.