A federal jury in Valdosta has convicted a Clinch County magistrate judge of perjury and making false statements to federal investigators. Magistrate Judge Linda C. Peterson faces up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines after being found guilty Monday. Prosecutors said she lied under oath to a grand jury when she denied having ever suggested to criminal defendants that they hire her father as a bail bondsman. She was also charged with making false statements to FBI agents investigating possible corruption in the rural south Georgia county.
