NEW ORLEANS — Louisiana's Judiciary Commission on Thursday recommended to the state Supreme Court that East Baton Rouge Parish Judge Tiffany Foxworth-Roberts be removed from the bench for telling lies and misleading police investigators.

The panel considered whether the judge lied in her campaign advertising and also misled state investigators. Members of the panel said she lacked credibility and tried to deceive those looking into her actions. One member of the Commission said the judge had "a tendency to dance with us ... and to bob and weave."

The Louisiana Supreme Court will ultimately decide on a penalty.

"In consideration of the mitigating and aggravating factors present, the prior precedent of this Court, and the effect of Judge Foxworth-Roberts’ ongoing pattern of dishonesty on the integrity of the judiciary and judicial discipline system, the Commission is compelled to recommend her removal from office," the commission wrote to the justices.

Foxworth-Roberts was elected in November 2020 and took office Jan. 1, 2021. Investigators said an anonymous complaint was filed against the judge five months after she took office. 

The vote to remove the judge was 11-2, with one member not present. All 13 members of the panel present for the vote agreed with the investigators' findings. 

The panel also asked that Foxworth-Roberts pay $9,449.83 to cover the cost of the investigation.

The panel accused Foxworth-Roberts of lying in her personal life and during the investigation that resulted. The most serious complaint was the repeated claim that Foxworth-Roberts was a captain in the Army. That claim appeared in campaign ads and in media coverage.

Foxworth-Roberts "lied in her sworn statement ..., claiming she attained the rank of Captain while serving in the Army," the brief said. Investigators said that, not only did she fail to reach Captain, she failed to reach the rank twice, requiring her separation from the Army Reserves as a 1st Lieutenant."

She also was accused of misleading police about the reported burglary of her vehicle. She had said the vehicle was in her driveway while it was actually several miles away. One investigator said the judge presented evidence showing that she didn't file a theft claim with her auto insurer, failing to disclose a claim made on her homeowner's insurance.

"Her misdirection and lack of candor continued throughout the Commission’s investigation — including when she falsely stated twice during her sworn statement that she was an Army Captain, refused to sign a release for her military records, and failed to disclose pertinent  information about her insurance claim — ... caused unnecessary confusion and delay" in the proceedings, the commission wrote to the state's highest court.

In a previous filing with the commission, investigators said "There is a fundamental dishonesty which permeates Judge Foxworth-Roberts' words and actions throughout every aspect of this case."