[8/12/04]Former Sharkey County Judge Ellis Willard will appear in federal court Friday on charges of witness intimidation stemming from his arrest in March on weapons charges.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Linda Anderson said Willard is in the Madison County Jail. Judge Alfred G. Nichols has a hearing set for 1:30 p.m. in U.S. District Court in Jackson to determine if Willard will be released on bond.

Details of the charge or the latest arrest were not available.

Willard, who served as justice court judge for Sharkey County from 1995 until he was removed from the bench in 2001, was arrested early this year by agents of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the state Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks; the Mississippi Highway Patrol; and the Mississippi bureaus of Investigation and Narcotics on federal gun charges.

Authorities confiscated more than 100 weapons, including an illegal machine gun.

Willard, 51, 83 Parkway Ave., Rolling Fork, will also go on trial next month on charges of receiving stolen property. He is charged with having two stolen trailers and two stolen tractor tires at his personal business in Rolling Fork.

Willard was removed from his office in June 2001 after being accused of 24 counts of misconduct. Among the complaints was that Willard conducted court business at his personal business.

He was also cited for suspending fines owed by criminal defendants, giving legal advice to would-be defendants before their cases were heard and using the state’s criminal process to collect a civil debt.

Willard ran unsuccessfully for sheriff of Sharkey County in the 2003 election.

Also last year, he was found innocent in an Issaquena County Justice Court jury trial on charges of misdemeanor hunting violations.