MICHIGAN CITY | A state ethics commission is accusing a LaPorte County judge of giving preferential treatment to people over whose cases he presided.

The Indiana Commission of Judicial Qualifications alleges Senior LaPorte County Superior Court Judge Walter P. Chapala violated the Indiana Code of Judicial Conduct in 2002 when he suspended 18 years of a drug dealer's prison term after the drug dealer donated $100,000 to Chapala's substance abuse counseling programs.

The commission alleges Chapala also violated ethics rules when he presided over a 2004 criminal case against his daughter-in-law's nephew and ordered police to disobey a court order from the state of Michigan to transport the nephew there.

Chapala also is accused of threatening to hold the LaPorte County sheriff in contempt of court for transferring the nephew to Michigan against Chapala's orders.

The judicial ethics code forbids judges from using their office to advance private interests or allow relatives to influence judicial conduct.

Indiana Judicial Qualifications Attorney Meg Babcock said Chapala has 20 days to answer the charges. The Indiana Supreme Court will name three judges to hear evidence and recommend whether any disciplinary action should be taken against Chapala.

Babcock said Chapala is not being asked to step down as a senior judge but must reapply for that office by year's end. Senior judges are former judges working part-time in courts across the state.

Kevin P. McGoff, an Indianapolis attorney representing Chapala, said Wednesday, "The judge has confidence in the workings of the process."