The state Supreme Court has disbarred a lawyer who formerly served as a municipal judge in Monmouth County, criminally convicted of ticket-fixing and funneling funds to nine municipalities in an effort to curry favor from local officials.

Richard Thompson, of Middletown, admitted in New Jersey in 1982, was disbarred effective immediately in an order issued Thursday. Thompson previously pleaded guilty to criminal charges resulting from the ticket-fixing scheme that ran from 2010 through most of 2015. He admitted to falsifying court records, levying illegitimate fines, and other wrongs, court papers and reports said.

The Supreme Court's order Thursday directed that "all funds, if any, currently existing or hereinafter deposited in any New Jersey financial institution maintained by Richard B. Thompson … be restrained from disbursement except on application to this Court, for good cause shown, and shall be transferred by the financial institution to the Clerk of the Superior Court" to deposit the funds in the Superior Court Trust Fund pending further order.

He was also ordered to reimburse the Disciplinary Oversight Committee for costs incurred in prosecuting the case.

Thompson didn't immediately return a call Thursday. Neither did his lawyer in the ethics case, Hamilton solo Robert Ramsey.

News accounts of Thompson's exploits from the Asbury Park Press and other media had him fixing roughly 4,000 tickets over a period of about five years while on the bench. Thompson would alter the tickets, have the defendants pay the fines, and then would funnel the revenue to the accounts of municipalities directly, generating revenue and relieving the towns from having to share it with the county as required by law, according to the reports and documents from the disciplinary case lodged by the Office of Attorney Ethics.

The amount he funneled over the five-year period was estimated at $600,000 to nine towns in Monmouth County whose officials were in position to reappoint Thompson every three years, an investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office reportedly found. The towns were Bradley Beach, Colts Neck, Eatontown, Middletown, Neptune City, Oceanport, Rumson, Tinton Falls and Union Beach.

Officials said Thompson did this in various ways, including inflating the ticket fine amounts, or altering the type of fine, issuing bogus contempt-of-court fines, reading into the record a higher fine amount than what was on the ticket, and entering guilty pleas for defendants without their knowledge and without proper paperwork.

In February 2018, Thompson pleaded guilty to a fourth-degree charge of falsifying records. He was sentenced to probation and barred from ever holding public office again in the state.

The OAE charged him with violating the Rules of Professional Conduct, including RPC 8.4(b), commission of a criminal act reflecting adversely on the lawyer's trustworthiness or fitness.

A September 2019 decision from the Disciplinary Review Board recommended disbarment by an 8-1 vote.

According to the opinion, Thompson admitted his conduct in his guilty plea—"that, from January 2010 through October 2015 … he systematically falsified official court records in motor vehicle cases … routinely suspended mandatory motor vehicle fines in cases and, instead, substituted baseless contempt charges in their place[.]" The opinion said Thompson knowingly did all this to ensure that " his criminal scheme would steer one hundred percent of the contempt proceeds to the towns over which he presided."

Thompson "argue[d] that, given the widespread abuse of contempt of court fines by municipal judges in New Jersey, it would not be fair to 'single [him] out' and impose disbarment for his conduct," and "note[d] that he was never questioned regarding his contempt practices until four years into his scheme," the DRB said in its opinion.

"Despite respondent's protestations of being singled out, the evidence clearly and convincingly illustrates that he engaged in an egregious, systematic scheme of criminal conduct, while serving in public office," the DRB said.

Thompson appeared before the state Supreme Court on Jan. 7 to argue against disbarment. According to the Asbury Park Press' report, while he was adamant there was never a so-called quid pro quo with the township officials holding appointment power, he said the use of his position for what became his long-standing scheme to funnel funds was all driven by money. Thompson also argued the contempt-of-court fines were not merely to raise revenue but to hold the defendants accountable for failing to appear in court, the report said.

On Thursday the Supreme Court rejected his arguments and ordered Thompson removed immediately from the bench.

David Gialanella contributed to this report.