Stringer to plead guilty to federal bank fraud charge

Former 2nd District Court of Appeal Judge Thomas E. Stringer has agreed to plead guilty to committing federal bank fraud by helping a stripper hide financial assets.

Stringer retired from the bench in February as the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission was pressing forward with misconduct charges and the FBI was investigating him. The judicial commission later dropped its ethics complaint because Stringer was no longer a judge.

Authorities began looking at Stringer after a series of reports in March 2008 by News Channel 8 and The Tampa Tribune revealed that Stringer allowed New York stripper Christy Yamanaka to deposit tens of thousands of dollars into his bank accounts while she owed creditors more than $300,000.

Under a federal information filed today in U.S. District Court, Stringer is accused of devising a scheme to obtain money from Wells Fargo Bank "by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses."

It also says Stringer purchased a home in Hawaii in his name "even though the funds for the purchase would and did come from another individual."

Although the individual is not named in the court document, Yamanaka has said Stringer purchased a house for her in his name. The charge says Stringer lied on a loan application, claiming the down payment was his own money.

The judge waived his right to have his case heard by a grand jury. An information is a charging document drawn up by a federal prosecutor.

In January, the commission accused Stringer of helping Yamanaka hide money from her creditors. It also found evidence Stringer purchased a house in Hawaii with Yamanaka and left her name off the mortgage.

The state also accused the judge of failing to disclose valuable gifts Yamanaka lavished on him, including Rolex watches, a holiday vacation in Las Vegas and a trip to New York City, where he stayed in the posh Waldorf Astoria.

In February, Stringer was to answer the commission's questions under oath. Three days before the planned deposition, the judge sent a letter informing the governor of his retirement.

He and Yamanaka met at the old Malio's restaurant on South Dale Mabry Highway in 1995, when she was working as a dancer at 2001 Odyssey adult club.

The judge has described Yamanaka as his friend and business partner and said her money went into bank accounts he opened in his name because she had terrible credit.

Yamanaka said the judge helped her hide assets from creditors at a time when she had court judgments totaling about $315,000.

Stringer was the first black judge to sit on the Hillsborough Circuit Court and one of the first on the 2nd District Court of Appeal, where he was one of 14 judges. The appeals court judges review decisions made by the lower courts. They often uphold or reverse criminal convictions or decide whether civil judgments should be reduced or upheld. Decisions by appellate judges can be reviewed by the Florida Supreme Court