The Associated Press

McARTHUR, Ohio - A former Zaleski village councilman convicted in 1999 of paying teenagers to be videotaped having sex is now accused of falsely telling the FBI that a judge offered to end his legal problems in exchange for money.

A federal grand jury indicted Joseph Steele last month on a charge of making a false statement. Steele, 38, is to be arraigned Aug. 21 in U.S. District Court in Columbus. If convicted, he could be sentenced to as much as five years in prison and fined up to $250,000.

The indictment accuses Steele of telling an FBI agent on Dec. 3 that a judge had approached him and said he could make Steele's legal problem go away for $5,000.

The indictment does not identify the judge. Steele was to have been resentenced in Vinton County Common Pleas Court on his conviction for photographing and videotaping minors having sex.

A retired judge, Warren J. Lotz, had sentenced Steele to 18 years in prison. But Steele was released from prison in 2002 after the Ohio Supreme Court overturned his conviction on seven of nine counts.

The case was returned to Vinton County so Steele could be resentenced on two counts of compelling prostitution. Each charge carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison.

Lotz said Thursday that FBI agents told him this year of Steele's accusations.

"They asked me if I ever had a conversation with him (Steele), and I said, 'Never,'" Lotz said.

Lotz said his only contact with Steele was in the courtroom.

There is no telephone listing for Steele in Zaleski.

Lotz sent a July 21 letter asking the Ohio Supreme Court to replace him as the judge in Steele's case because of the federal investigation. The court has not appointed a replacement.