US

Former Assistant District Attorney In Tennessee Admits He Dismissed Charges For Sex

Man in photo not related to story. Image for illustrative purposes only (Photo by SEBASTIAN KAHNERT/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Andrew Jose Contributor
Font Size:

A former assistant district attorney of Washington County, Tennessee, pleaded guilty Tuesday to seeking a sexual bribe in Dec. 2018 in exchange for dismissing and expunging criminal charges, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Tennessee.

Fifty-year-old William E. McManus, Jr. admitted in his plea agreement that in 2018, he “dismissed and expunged shoplifting and possession of methamphetamine charges” that were pending in the Sessions Court of Washington County in exchange for a sexual act while he was Assistant District Attorney, a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated.

McManus had engaged in commercial sexual acts with the same individual before the alleged sex scandal, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. (RELATED: Lawyer Disbarred For ‘Alternative’ Payment Request)

On May 28, 2020, police arrested McManus as part of a sting operation the 1st Judicial District Attorney General’s office, where McManus Jr. worked, conducted along with federal agents, the Johnson City Press reported.

A month after his arrest, on Jun. 26, 2020, the Supreme Court of Tennessee’s Board of Professional Responsibility debarred McManus Jr. for violating Rules of Professional Responsibility clauses 8.4 a, b, c, d, and e.

The Board cited sections from the Tennessee Supreme Court Rules of Professional Responsibility that deem it professional misconduct for a lawyer to “commit a criminal act that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness as a lawyer in other respects; engage in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation; engage in conduct that is prejudicial to the administration of justice; state or imply an ability to influence a tribunal or a governmental agency or official on grounds unrelated to the merits of, or the procedures governing, the matter under consideration.”

Judge Ronnie Greer is scheduled to sentence McManus in the U.S. District Court for Eastern District of Tennessee on Nov. 15, 2021. McManus faces a maximum sentence of ten years imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 for the charges he admitted to, according to the press release.