The judge, Gerald P. Garson of State Supreme Court, was caught on videotape discussing gifts and cases in his robing room with a lawyer, the official said.

       Justice Garson, 70, turned himself in to the Brooklyn district attorney's office around 10 last night, said Jerry Schmetterer, a spokesman for that office. The justice is also suspected of taking payoffs from lawyers to steer clients to them and taking part in a scheme to assign divorce cases to himself, a lawyer said. At least five other people, including a lawyer and a court employee, are expected to be arrested on related charges, officials said.

       A former longtime treasurer of the Kings County Democratic organization, Justice Garson was elected in 1997 to State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, the equivalent of county court. He is expected to be charged with receiving a reward for official misconduct, a felony "a notch below" bribery carrying a maximum sentence of four years in prison, the criminal justice official said.

       The accusations against Justice Garson come a year after the state conducted inquiries into at least five State Supreme Court justices in Brooklyn, including Victor I. Barron, who pleaded guilty to taking a bribe from a lawyer in a civil case and was sentenced to serve at least three years in prison. The questionable conduct led the state's chief judge, Judith S. Kaye, to replace Brooklyn's chief administrative judge and to promise reforms.

       The case against Justice Garson began last summer with a complaint from a "good citizen" who was involved in a matrimonial case before him, the criminal justice official said. Over time, investigators from the Brooklyn district attorney's office found enough evidence that Justice Garson was conducting unethical business in his chambers that they were able to get a warrant to install a video camera there, the official said.

       The authorities did not offer specifics on what Justice Garson is accused of doing to help the lawyers. "Generally, he gave the break to their client," the official said, adding that there were many instances of inappropriate conduct.

       The lawyer familiar with the case said that Justice Garson is accused of coaching the lawyers who plied him with gifts on how to argue their cases.

       Justice Garson is out on sick leave, and a telephone message left at his chambers yesterday drew no response.

       Justice Garson has been a fixture at the intersection of law and politics in Downtown Brooklyn for decades.

       In the 1970's and 1980's, he had a lucrative practice representing the owners of taxi fleets. He was the treasurer of the county Democratic organization when Howard Golden, who was then the borough president, was the group's chairman in the late 1980's and stayed on after Mr. Golden stepped down, remaining until the mid-90's.

       In 1984, when he was a lawyer, he was censured by the state for taking a civil judge and his wife on a weekend vacation in the Catskills and registering the judge under the name of one of his law partners.

       His wife, Robin Garson, and a cousin, Michael Garson, are also State Supreme Court justices in Brooklyn.

       In 2001, Justice Garson was applauded by feminists when he ordered an Orthodox Jewish man to pay his wife $500 a week for life because the man refused to grant his wife a religious divorce, or "get," thereby damaging her standing in the community.

       Several veteran court-watchers expressed surprise to hear of the imminent charges. "He's a very decent guy," said a lawyer and former elected official, "and he was a very successful lawyer, so it's very hard to imagine he would need to steal."

       According to the criminal justice official, Justice Garson accepted the boxes of cigars in his chambers, while for free meals, he favored restaurants on the Upper East Side, near his home.

       In recent years, Brooklyn judges have been accused of a wide range of improprieties. The State Commission on Judicial Conduct is trying to remove Justice Reynold N. Mason of State Supreme Court in Brooklyn after finding that he illegally sublet his apartment to his brother-in-law, and instead of turning the rent money over to the landlord, used it to pay child support.

       Two other judges were reprimanded by the commission in 2001 and 2002 for misusing their influence in cases in other courts, and two other judges were said to be facing ethical inquiries last year.

       Most of the judges had close ties to the Brooklyn Democratic Party, as does the district attorney, Charles J. Hynes, who has long been supported by the organization and who hired Mr. Golden last year as a $125,000-a-year director of civic affairs after Mr. Golden stepped down as borough president.

       Mr. Hynes's political connections led critics to call for him to disqualify himself from the cases against the judges and ask the governor to appoint a special prosecutor, but Mr. Hynes stood his ground. His spokesman, Mr. Schmetterer, declined to comment further yesterday on the case against Justice Garson.