Former defense attorney gets 6 months for bribery scheme

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A former defense attorney has been sentenced to six months in federal prison for a bribery scheme involving a former state attorney in north Florida. Court records show that 46-year-old Ernest Maloney Page IV was sentenced Tuesday in Jacksonville federal court. He pleaded guilty in 2020 to conspiring to commit bribery. According to court documents, the region’s elected state attorney told Page in September 2017 that he would dismiss two DUI charges for one of Page’s clients in exchange for a $20,000 discount on a tractor he wanted to buy from the client’s dealership. Jeffrey Siegmeister previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud charges.