Disgraced former Knox County Judge Richard Baumgartner has died at the age of 70, according to the Knox County Sheriff's Office.
Baumgartner was found unresponsive in his home in East Knox County by his family around 4:15 p.m. Monday, the sheriff's office said.
Officials said there are no signs of foul play.
A Memorial Service will be held on Thursday February 1st at Sequoyah Hills Presbyterian Church in Knoxville at 6 p.m. The family will receive friends at the church from 4:30 to 6 p.m.
Baumgartner is credited with decades of service in Knox County, and presided over some of the most high-profile criminal cases in recent decades in Knox County. He was forced from the bench following a scandal involving pills and an affair that lead to retrials of several cases, including some of the defendants in the Christian-Newsom double-murder case.
Baumgartner was convicted in November 2012 on five counts of misprision of a felony. He was found guilty of covering up a drug conspiracy involving his mistress, a former graduate of the drug court he founded, Deena Castleman.
Baumgartner spent six months in a West Virginia federal camp, and officially completed his federal sentence at home.
The sheriff's office said Baumgartner's body was taken to the Regional Forensic Center where the Knox County Medical Examiner will determine his cause of death.