Ex-Councilman Tayoun called judge to fix a ticket

JIMMY TAYOUN had three reasons for two calls to the president judge of Philadelphia Traffic Court in 2011.

Tayoun, publisher of the Philadelphia Public Record, wanted to interview Judge Michael Sullivan and take his picture for the paper, and sought help for an "associate" who was in danger of losing his license due to a traffic ticket.

Sullivan was one of nine judges indicted Thursday on corruption charges for alleged ticket-fixing.

Tayoun, a former City Councilman who served time in federal prison in the 1990s on corruption charges, says that the ticket request was no big deal.

"The call to a Traffic Court judge is the same in my opinion as me being a character witness in a court case," said Tayoun, identified in the 79-page indictment only as "Ji.T."

Tayoun's request for help paid off. Judge H. Warren Hogeland dismissed the $152 ticket for driving with an expired vehicle inspection, even though Tayoun's associate, identified in the indictment as "G.C.," didn't show up in court.

Hogeland also was indicted Thursday.

Tayoun, who has published at least three columns critical of the Traffic Court probe since it became public in late 2011, said indicting judges for doing political favors "shows a definite weakness in the efforts of the U.S. Attorney's Office to really find something wrong with that court."