AKRON, Ohio -- A federal appeals court has forced Akron federal Judge John Adams to recuse himself from a criminal case after the defendant claimed that he often used heroin with the judge's brother and nephew.

Eric Ramey was in front of Adams on charges of creating and passing counterfeit money at Holmes County businesses.

Ramey wrote in a petition to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in November that he used heroin and opiates with Jerry Adams Sr. and Jerry Adams Jr. every day for 14 months.

The judge said that he was estranged from this part of his family and he refused to step down from the case after Ramey and his attorney brought the information to his attention.

In a two-page order issued Tuesday, a three-judge panel from the Cincinnati-based appeals court wrote that it felt that removal "is warranted in this case." The panel did not provide any further explanation for its decision.

Ramey, 30, of Orrville, had asked the court to seal filings in the appeals court case, which would have kept the matter secret. The court rejected the request.

(You can read the filings at the bottom of this story.)

In his petition, Ramey wrote that his girlfriend and Adams' nephew were involved in a theft case and that Ramey might be called as a witness. Ramey also wrote that he was friends with Jerry Adams Jr., "and on one occasion actually encountered Judge Adams at a nursing home."

"Estranged or otherwise, knowledge that a defendant has used drugs on a daily basis with a close family member for an extended period of time in [and] of itself would lead a reasonable person to believe that the Judge's impartiality 'might reasonably be questioned,'" Ramey's petition says.

Adams called Ramey's statements into question in a November letter to the appeals court. The Akron judge also wrote that Ramey did not show that he would treat Ramey different than other defendants.

"As Mr. Ramey has shown nothing more than the fact he alleged had an illicit relationship that involved conduct wholly unrelated to his indictment, he falls well short of demonstrating any appearance of antagonism, let alone a deep seated antagonism," Adams wrote.

The case was re-assigned to U.S. District Judge Sara Lioi, another Akron federal judge. Ramey is scheduled to plead guilty on Tuesday.

Carlos Warner, Ramey's federal public defender, said in an email statement that "Mr. Ramey is doing well in his recovery and I hope he continues on his current positive path."

Adams said in an email sent by his law clerk that, "I have no independent knowledge of a relationship between the defendant and the persons referenced in the petition or the activities alleged in the petition, but I have followed the direction of the appellate court and recused from the matter."

He continued, "As the Sixth Circuit did not detail any reason for my need to recuse, I cannot comment further on the issue."

Adams' time on the bench has proved controversial.

Appointed by President George W. Bush in 2003, the 6th Circuit has removed the judge from at least two other cases in recent years.

One involved a lawsuit filed by a group of firefighters against the city of Akron alleging discrimination in the city's promotion process. That case, along with another case he presided over involving the city, caused then-Akron Mayor Don Plusquellic to send a public letter to the judge to ask him to recuse himself from all cases involving the city.

Adams also publicly reprimanded federal public defender Debra Migdal in 2011 for issuing subpoenas in a criminal case. The appeals court later admonished Adams for punishing Migdal, writing that he abused his discretion and that he "relied on clearly erroneous factual findings."

The judge is also known for taking steps to admonish attorneys who commit wrongdoing, something that other judges rarely do.

Adams had attorney Brent English arrested in October outside the Cleveland Justice Center. He brought English to court to have him explain why he missed a hearing in a six-year-old foreclosure case.

On Friday, he publicly admonished longtime Cleveland criminal defense attorney Craig Weintraub after the attorney was overheard cursing at a prosecutor.

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