A suspended magisterial district judge in Lancaster, Pa. has been fined $1,500 for fixing her own parking tickets.
The Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era (Lancaster Online) reports a judge Monday ordered Kelly Ballentine to pay the fine for dismissing the tickets in December 2010 and January 2011. The parking fines totaled $269.59.
Chester County Judge Charles B. Smith rejected both jail and probation, saying Ballentine has an “otherwise reputable background.”
In court Monday, Ballentine asked for forgiveness from her friends, family and judicial system peers. Last month, she pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor counts of tampering with public records.
"I regret any measure of shame I have brought to them at this time," Ballantine said in court, according to Lancaster Online.
Her attorney, Royce Morris, says she exercised a “major lapse in judgment” when she dismissed the three tickets given to her by city police.
The state Judicial Conduct Board is weighing Ballentine's status as a judge.
