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TAMPA - The U.S. Air Force has reinstated Hillsborough Circuit Judge Greg Holder as a judge advocate in its military court system, a post from which he was suspended in May amid allegations that he plagiarized a research paper.
Major Gen. Thomas Fiscus informed Holder of his reinstatement in a Dec. 19 letter, saying the decision came after a review of the evidence in his case.
Holder still must make his case to the Florida Judicial Qualifications Commission, a panel that oversees judges, at a Jan. 20 hearing.
The JQC has accused Holder, a colonel in the Air Force Reserve, of cribbing a research paper submitted for credit at an Air Force seminar. Holder's attorney David Weinstein characterized the military's decision as a victory for his client.
"A military decision about a military matter should be respected by civilian authorities." Weinstein said in a news release. "We feel strongly that the Judicial Qualifications Commission should respect the decision of the U.S. Air Force and dismiss the charges against Judge Holder."
Holder, a well-known whistle-blower at the Hillsborough Courthouse, says that the plagiarized paper is not the one he submitted and that he has been set up.