A Philadelphia judge accused of attempting to influence a colleague’s sentencing decision with a hastily written note is asking for leniency as he fights to preserve his career.
Common Pleas Court Judge Scott DiClaudio, 62, is awaiting a ruling on his future after Pennsylvania’s Judicial Conduct Board urged a disciplinary court Thursday to remove him from office permanently, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
DiClaudio, who has a close relationship with rapper Meek Mill, is accused of trying to affect the sentencing of Dwayne Jones, whom prosecutors said also had connections to the hip-hop star.
The case centers on an incident last year in which DiClaudio allegedly called Common Pleas Court Judge Zachary Shaffer to meet with him and handed him a lined sheet of paper bearing the words: “Dwayne Jones, courtroom 905, and Monday’s date.”
DiClaudio allegedly ripped the note into pieces and threw it away. As he left, he reportedly told Shaffer: “You probably would have done the right thing anyway.”
Shaffer was scheduled to sentence Jones only days later. He reported the encounter to his supervisors the following day and removed himself from the case.
Jones had pleaded guilty to three firearms charges: felony possession of a firearm while prohibited, carrying a firearm without a license and carrying a firearm in Philadelphia.
In September 2025, the board charged DiClaudio with several violations, including breaking the law, undermining confidence in the judiciary, allowing personal relationships to influence his conduct and making statements intended to affect a case’s outcome.
Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Scott DiClaudio is accused of trying to influence a colleague’s sentencing with a handwritten note and is now asking for mercy as he fights to save his career
DiClaudio is awaiting a decision on his future after Pennsylvania’s Judicial Conduct Board urged a disciplinary court Thursday to remove him permanently from office
The board also accused him of violating Article V of the Pennsylvania Constitution, which governs judicial conduct. He was later suspended without pay.
At Thursday’s hearing, DiClaudio became emotional while discussing his children. He defended his integrity and career, arguing that the incident was a misunderstanding and not an effort to sway the administration of justice.
“It was improper and wrong. There was no good reason to say that even though it wasn’t my intention to influence the case,” the senior judge said.
“I never wanted him to do anything with that statement other than to say thank you,” he added. “I wish I never said it. I regret ever saying it. I wasn’t thinking.”
He pleaded with the court to allow him to remain on the bench for the few weeks needed to secure his pension and lifetime health insurance for his wife and two young children before retiring.
But Elizabeth Hoffheins, deputy counsel for the Judicial Conduct Board, said the panel continued to believe DiClaudio was attempting to steer the case because Jones was a friend of Meek Mill.
“This remark was not simply a compliment, not simply an off-the-cuff remark. It was calculated to occur three days prior to this man’s sentencing,” she said.
Hoffheins accused DiClaudio of showing “little respect for the court and little respect for the rules of the court.” She also cited what she described as a yearslong pattern of “boorish” and improper conduct, saying he had not yet accepted responsibility for it.
DiClaudio, who has a close relationship with rapper Meek Mill, pictured on FaceTime, is accused of trying to influence the sentencing of Dwayne Jones, whom prosecutors said also had ties to the rapper
“Anything less than removal would fall short of restoring the public’s trust,” she said.
Both DiClaudio and Shaffer gave starkly different accounts of the incident that unfolded on June 12, 2025, inside The Justice Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice.
Last October, Shaffer testified that he was on the bench in his courtroom when DiClaudio’s personal assistant, Gary Silver, walked in and told him his colleague wanted to see him, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
He said his clerk had been in touch with DiClaudio that week about buying T-shirts promoting a business owned by DiClaudio’s wife, and they assumed Silver’s request was for them to go pick them up.
Several people gathered in DiClaudio’s robing room before he allegedly asked them to step out, leaving him and Shaffer alone.
It was then that the senior judge allegedly pulled out a piece of paper bearing the cryptic message, held it at his side, looked at Shaffer and said, ‘OK?’ Shaffer testified.
Shaffer said he hesitantly replied, ‘OK,’ before DiClaudio ripped up the paper and threw it away, leaving him to believe his colleague was suggesting he give Jones a favorable sentence.
Shaffer reported the incident to his higher-ups, who then referred it to the Judicial Conduct Board.
DiClaudio tearfully spoke of his children as he defended his integrity and career, insisting the incident was a misunderstanding
The board accused DiClaudio of having ‘little respect for the court and little respect for the rules of the court,’ pointing to a years-long pattern of ‘boorish’ and improper behavior
‘It was dead clear to me what he wanted,’ Shaffer testified during a hearing last fall, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
‘That’s law and Ethics 101,’ he added. ‘That’s putting your thumb on the scale of justice. You’re not allowed to do that.’
Meanwhile, DiClaudio testified that he was merely repeating to Shaffer what he had told Jones: that his colleague was ‘a good judge who would do the right thing.’
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‘I was relating the story to Judge Shaffer to give him a compliment. I wasn’t trying to influence a case,’ he argued. ‘It was made to give a compliment to a friend.’
In DiClaudio’s account, it all started when Jones approached him at the Roots Picnic earlier that month while he was hanging out backstage with Meek Mill.
He testified that Jones told him he had recently pleaded guilty to the gun charges and would soon be sentenced by Shaffer, to which DiClaudio responded that he was a good judge who would do the right thing.
Jones handed him a business card, which DiClaudio said he pocketed to avoid being rude, before claiming he forgot about the entire encounter until he saw Shaffer 11 days later, according to the outlet.
The judge said he remembered the card as Shaffer was leaving, took it out and relayed his brief conversation with Jones before throwing it away, arguing that there was not even anything written on it.
On the stand, DiClaudio bounced between accepting responsibility, challenging Shaffer’s testimony and airing details about his colleague’s dating history
DiClaudio became known for his blunt, sometimes brash communication style from the bench, with his own attorneys previously describing him as ‘tough to control’ (pictured with wife)
He also claimed he asked for Shaffer only because he had just handled a case involving a defense attorney the judge was dating who failed to appear in court, and he wanted to ask why she had not shown up.
Courtroom audio, however, confirmed that DiClaudio addressed the woman’s case immediately before asking whether Shaffer was still on the bench.
Since taking the bench in 2016, he became known for his long hours, efficiency in moving cases through the system and detailed explanations of his decisions to both victims’ families and defendants.
But he also became known for his blunt, sometimes brash communication style from the bench, with his own attorneys previously describing him as ‘tough to control,’ according to the outlet.
They told the court that he ‘talks in a stream of consciousness and talks without regard to understanding the entire context of what’s going on as being perceived by people around him.’
The unconventional behavior was on display again Thursday, when the board called for his permanent removal after two grueling days of testimony before the Court of Judicial Discipline.
On the stand, he bounced between accepting responsibility, challenging Shaffer’s testimony and airing details about his colleague’s dating history.
His attorneys, Samuel Stretton and George Bochetto, even struggled to rein him in, with Stretton repeatedly cutting him off: ‘Just stop.’
During a hearing on Thursday, DiClaudio acknowledged: ‘I talk a lot, but it’s my greatest strength and my greatest weakness’
At one point, DiClaudio acknowledged: ‘I talk a lot, but it’s my greatest strength and my greatest weakness.’
He also admitted that he might be a ‘crazier judge,’ but maintained that he was ‘a judge who makes the right decisions.’
‘That may be an explanation, but frankly, I’m not sure that’s a defense,’ Judge Charles L Becker, of the disciplinary panel, responded, according to the outlet.
Meanwhile, Hoffheins pointed to DiClaudio’s unpredictable behavior and previous disciplinary record as evidence of a pattern of misconduct, arguing that the board did not need to prove a motive in its case.
Judge Carolyn Nichols also described it as a ‘painful trail of incidents,’ with the case marking the third ethics complaint filed against him.
In 2020, the Court of Judicial Discipline found that DiClaudio had violated the judicial code of conduct, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The case involved undisclosed debts on his annual financial forms and repeated failures to pay thousands of dollars owed to a Bala Cynwyd fitness club, for which he received a two-week suspension and probation through 2026.
Last April, the board accused him of using his position as a judge to promote his wife’s cheesesteak shop Shay’s Steaks, saying he had eroded public trust in the judiciary and abused the prestige of his office for personal gain.
Last April, the board accused him of using his position as a judge to promote his wife’s cheesesteak shop Shay’s Steaks, saying he had eroded public trust in the judiciary
DiClaudio denied the allegations, and the case remains ongoing.
‘What I am hearing, what I am feeling, is a persistent theme of your doing things and saying things that are not wise,’ Judge Becker said.
In his closing remarks, DiClaudio’s attorney pleaded with the panel for mercy, admitting: ‘Yes, he did something bad. And some of his conduct here can get a little rambunctious.’
‘But I see a great, decent judge. He’s done a lot of good in the community and on the bench. He’s well-respected,’ he added.
Before his suspension last year, DiClaudio mostly heard cases involving people seeking to overturn murder convictions and presided over several high-profile exoneration and wrongful-conviction cases.
He also approved the release or resentencing of dozens of people serving life behind bars.
DiClaudio’s fate now rests with the tribunal, which could take months to reach a decision.