Civil rights leader must make good on $55,000 bad check

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WASHINGTON (AP) — A judge has ordered civil rights leader and former congressional delegate Walter Fauntroy to make good on a bad check for $55,000 he wrote to an event planner.

Johnny Barnes, Fauntroy's lawyer, tells The Washington Post (http://wapo.st/29URTns ) that a judge in Prince George's County, Maryland, issued the order Wednesday. If the money is not repaid before Sept. 12, the 83-year-old Fauntroy will face trial.

Fauntroy allegedly wrote the check to pay for a 2009 ball he organized for President Barack Obama's first inauguration. Fauntroy left for the United Arab Emirates in 2012 after a bench warrant was issued.

He was arrested last month at Dulles International Airport.

Fauntroy said in an interview that he has repaid more than half the money and vowed to pay the rest before the deadline.