DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Cynthia Becker. File Photo by Dan Whisenhunt

Former DeKalb County judge Cynthia Becker is speaking out about her recent agreement not to seek a judicial office in exchange for a prosecutor dropping felony charges against her.

She told the AJC there are “a number of people who gained” from seeing her indicted. To read the full story, click here.

Becker tells the AJC that she believes she was targeted for making an unpopular decision in a case involving former DeKalb County Schools superintendent Crawford Lewis. In 2013, she ignored a plea deal negotiated with Lewis for his testimony against two other former schools officials: Pat Reid and Tony Pope.

Pope and Reid were accused of being involved in a scheme to steer lucrative construction contracts to family members. Under the plea deal, Lewis was supposed to receive 12 months of probation, but Becker sentenced him to 12 months in jail because, according to the Daily Report, she didn’t believe his testimony.

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That set off a chain of events that resulted in the Appeals Court vacating Lewis’ sentence and criticizing Becker for ignoring the plea deal.

Becker also apologized for making incorrect statements to the Judicial Qualifications Commission pertaining to its investigation of her conduct as judge. Becker had been indicted for those statements, according to the Daily Report. To read the full story (subscription required), click here.

Becker left her post this year and was replaced by Decatur resident and attorney Jean-Paul “JP” Boulee.