Robert Peter Aguilar

Robert Peter Aguilar (born 1931) is a former United States federal judge.

Born in Madera, California, Aguilar received a B.A. from the University of California, Berkeley in 1954 and a J.D. from University of California, Berkeley, Boalt Hall School of Law in 1958. He was in private practice in San Jose, California from 1960 to 1979, and was then a Superior court judge, County of Santa Clara, California from 1979 to 1980.

On April 3, 1980, President Jimmy Carter nominated Aguilar to a new seat on the United States District Court for the Northern District of California created by 92 Stat. 1629. Aguilar was confirmed by the United States Senate on June 18, 1980, and received his commission the same day.

In 1989 the judge was indicted for Racketeering and Obstruction of Justice. Specifically, it was alleged that Aguilar, at the request of Abe Chapman (a convicted narcotics trafficker), tried to influence another judge, Judge Stanley A. Weigel, on behalf of Michael Rudy Tham, a former Teamsters official who was appealing an embezzlement case against him.^[1] On March 19, 1990, the case ended in acquittal on Obstruction, and in a mistrial on the other counts.^[2] He was retried over the summer and convicted on five counts.^[3] and sentenced to six months in prison, 1,000 hours of community service and fined $2,000 on conviction of unlawfully disclosing a Government wiretap and obstructing justice by lying to Federal agents about it. He continued to be out on bail while his appeals took place and refused to resign. In 1993, he faced impeachment proceedings, but they were put on hold when the conviction was overturned the following year.^[4]

For this reason, he was able to assume senior status on April 15, 1996, but chose to retire two months later on June 24, 1996.

As of 2009, Aguilar remains in private practice in Santa Clara County.

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