Veteran Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Robert P. Horgos resigned yesterday because of what his lawyer said was enormous financial stress associated with Florida property dealings that are the focus of a federal investigation and civil suit.

"His life savings have been taken by another person. He's at his wits' end as to how to handle all the financial pressure he is under," lawyer Louis Tarasi said yesterday.

Mr. Tarasi explained that his client resigned to devote his full attention to pending federal litigation in Fort Myers, Fla.

Mr. Horgos, 61, of Sewickley Hills, was first elected to the bench in 1983. Yesterday was his last day of work at a position that paid $161,850. Pension information was unavailable.

He did not return a request for comment left in person at his eighth-floor chambers in the City-County Building.

Mr. Horgos' land dealings remain under scrutiny by federal authorities, and a grand jury has heard testimony from people with knowledge of the transactions.

There is no indication that federal investigators are close to deciding whether anything criminal occurred or whether to charge anyone.

At the same time that Mr. Horgos' transactions are under the microscope, he is pursuing his own claims in federal court.

Mr. Tarasi represents Mr. Horgos in a suit against Alfredo Sararo III and numerous other defendants that alleges racketeering, fraud and conspiracy.

Mr. Sararo, a former local tennis champion and one-time Allegheny County probation officer, relocated to Florida, where he became involved in that state's last real estate boom.

Mr. Horgos has accused Mr. Sararo, a former family friend and business partner, of forging his name on checks and defrauding him out of his life savings in deals between 2004 and 2006.

Through his lawyer, Robert Rosenblatt, Mr. Sararo has denied the forgery allegations.

In recent court filings, Mr. Horgos said he opened an account with Fifth Third Bank in Naples, Fla., in 2003 to make cheap, early-bird purchases of properties before they went into foreclosure as part of a special program for preferred customers.

But the former judge claims that the program was a vehicle to siphon off his funds that was used by Mr. Sararo; Mr. Sararo's ex-wife, Alana; and his brother, Christopher.

Real estate that was meant to be bought for Mr. Horgos ended up in the hands of others, Mr. Horgos alleges. He said he learned that properties were bought in his name for far less than he was told -- and for less than what was withdrawn from his account.

"He thought any money being taken out was being taken out by the bank to buy foreclosed property in his name," Mr. Tarasi said.

Instead, Mr. Tarasi alleged, bank officials in 2006 authorized a $645,000 check to Mr. Sararo that was withdrawn from an account owned by Mr. Horgos and never contacted the judge even though Mr. Sararo's name was not on the account.

Mr. Horgos said in a court filing that he lost more than $1 million in 2006 alone to wrongful withdrawals.

The judge's resignation comes a little less than a year after the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that federal authorities here were examining real estate deals on Florida's Gulf Coast that involved Mr. Horgos, Mr. Sararo and Allegheny County Common Pleas Senior Judge Gerard M. Bigley.

Judge Bigley, who lives in Robinson and was once a criminal investigator for the U.S. Treasury Department, has declined any comment other than to say that he is not a target of any investigation.