Torpedoed: Former New Jersey Judge Richard Sasso Banned For Life

Former New Jersey municipal judge Richard Sasso has been permanently banned from the bench by the Supreme Court Advisory Committee on Judicial Conduct. Among the violations found by the committee was Sasso’s abuse of both lawyers and litigants; his presiding over cases while under the influence of alcohol and Vicodin, and improper public conduct including an unpleasant scene at a strip club called Torpedo’s Go-Go Club.

Sasso is now a solo practitioner in Warren, N.J. and resigned over a year ago after the start of the investigation. Sasso insists that his problems concern his illnesses and his mistake in mixing Vicodin with alcohol on a few occasions. Sasso observed “It’s a shame that in New Jersey no one recognizes the medical problems a person can have during one’s lifetime.”

The problems at Torpedo’s Go-Go Bar in Bound Brook, N.J. in 2007 reportedly began after a bartender asked Judge Sasso to produce his driver’s license before he would run a tab. The bar was crowded for a St. Patrick’s day party featuring “100 Hot Irish Ladies.” When confronted, Sasso reportedly said “Do you know who I am? I’m the Bound Brook judge.” When the manager was called he reported invoked his position again by saying “Do you know who I am? I can make problems for you.” That is not exactly how it turned out.

Given recent stories, it seems that go-go and strip clubs are the undoing of many a judge.

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