Author Archive for Beth Musgrave

State worker accused of directing subordinate to place hundreds of bets

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The superintendent of the Adair Youth Development Center faces ethics charges for allegedly directing a state employee to research and place illegal bets on sporting events for him while the employee was working.

The Executive Branch Ethics Commission accused Dewayne Mills on Monday of instructing a subordinate at the treatment center for juveniles to place bets — anywhere from $25 to $100 — on “hundreds of sporting events” in 2010 and 2011. Mills allegedly would text or call the employee to place the bet with a bookie while the employee was on state time.

Mills also is accused of using state computers to research point spreads, and of instructing an employee to conduct research on point spreads and betting statistics for him while the employee was working.

On one occasion, Mills allegedly told the employee to lie to his on-site supervisor about why he had to leave a meeting and then use another employee’s office to do online betting research.

Three former agriculture employees settle ethics charges

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Three former state agriculture employees agreed Monday to pay a total of $15,500 in fines to settle ethics charges that stemmed from their employment under former Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer.

In March, the Executive Branch Ethics Commission issued 42 ethics charges against Farmer, who was commissioner from 2004 to 2011. In addition, the commission charged six other former agriculture department employees and Farmer’s sister, Rhonda Monroe, an assistant director for the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance.

On Monday, the commission announced settlements with three of the former agriculture employees: Bruce Harper, George “Doug” Begley and Chris Parsons.

The ethics charges against Farmer, Monroe and former agriculture employees William E. Mobley, Steven Mobley and Stephanie L. Sandmann are still pending, said John Steffen, executive director of the Executive Branch Ethics Commission.

Prosecutors say Richie Farmer’s alleged wrongdoing started before 2008

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Former Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer misused state resources to further his personal and political agendas prior to 2008, federal prosecutors allege in court documents filed late Friday.

Prosecutors said Farmer, who was agriculture commissioner from 2004 to 2011, was only charged with alleged improprieties from 2008 to 2011 because a five-year statute of limitations prohibits them from pursuing alleged wrongdoing before that time.

Still, prosecutors said they plan to introduce evidence about Farmer’s conduct prior to 2008 during trial to bolster their argument that Farmer had an “unwarranted sense of entitlement.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Taylor said prosecutors plan to show that Farmer improperly influenced the hiring, promoting and rewarding of more employees than the three who are mentioned in an April indictment of Farmer.

Testimony and evidence also will show that Farmer, a former beloved University of Kentucky basketball player and once rising star in the Republican Party, tried to influence private vendors to provide goods and services to him or the department.

Larry Cox to retire from Comer’s office; fuel lab closure complete

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — The former longtime state director for U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell is retiring from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture a little more than a month after being appointed to one of the department’s top jobs, agriculture officials said Thursday.

Larry Cox began working for Agriculture Commissioner James Comer last summer and was promoted to deputy commissioner in April.

As director of Consumer and Environmental Protection, Cox made $80,000 a year and helped oversee the shuttering of a more than $3.1 million fuel testing lab that began under former Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer. The department has since contracted with a private laboratory for gas testing and hopes to save taxpayers $600,000 a year by closing the lab.
Comer has asked the Finance and Administration Cabinet to auction off more than $3.1 million in lab equipment.

After Cox completed the shut down of the laboratory, he decided to return to retirement, according to a news release. Agriculture officials said Thursday that Cox had always planned to return to retirement and his Hart County farming operation. His last day will be June 15.

Internal investigation of Jefferson County social services office concluding

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — An internal investigation into one of Kentucky’s largest regional child protection and social services office should conclude in coming weeks, said Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Audrey Tayse Haynes.

Haynes told the Lexington Herald-Leader editorial board last week that she asked the cabinet’s Office of Inspector General to look at the Jefferson County Department for Community Based Services, which handles child and adult protection and other programs, such as food stamps.

Haynes declined to say what the Office of Inspector General was investigating. She said the Office of Inspector General is also investigating another regional office in Kentucky but declined to name it.

Jill Midkiff, a spokeswoman for the cabinet, said more details about the investigations will be released when the reports are final, which Haynes said she hopes happens in the next several weeks.

Richie Farmer trial moved to Oct. 22

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — A federal judge has rescheduled the trial of former Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer to Oct. 22.

Attorneys for Farmer had asked to delay the original July 2 trial date to February 2014 because of the complexity of the case and scheduling conflicts. Federal prosecutors argued in court documents that a seven month delay was too long and asked for a fall trial date. The trial is expected to last three weeks.

In his Wednesday order, U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove said Farmer’s lawyers will need additional time to prepare for trial but not until February.

Richie Farmer’s lawyers asks for detailed discovery documents

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Lawyers for former Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer want federal prosecutors to provide all documents that could be used against Farmer and want all criminal records of any potential government witness.

In documents filed in federal court Monday, lawyer J. Guthrie True asked a judge to compel prosecutors to turn over reams of information to Farmer’s defense team. The items requested include criminal convictions of any potential witness, details of any deal brokered by federal investigators in exchange for testimony or evidence against Farmer, all documents the federal government plans to use in the expected three-week trial, and a summary of all witness testimony. Such discovery requests are common in criminal cases.

Federal prosecutors have already turned over 16 compact discs to Farmer’s lawyers, according to previous court filings.

Farmer has pleaded not guilty to charges relating to the alleged misuse of approximately $450,000 in taxpayer funds. He is accused of giving plum gigs to friends — including a girlfriend — who performed little or no work, taking guns and other gifts intended for a 2008 agriculture convention, and taking state refrigerators, computers and other equipment. Farmer, who was agriculture commissioner from 2004 to 2011, is also a former University of Kentucky basketball stand out. He is currently unemployed.

A federal magistrate judge has set a trial date for July 2, but True has requested a delay until February 2014. Prosecutors have asked for a fall 2013 trial date.

State revenue dips in April, raising possibility of budget shortfall

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — State revenue declined 2 percent in April, highlighting the possibility of a budget shortfall in the final two months of the fiscal year.

Kentucky’s General Fund collections were down $16.5 million from April 2011, according to figures released Friday.

The state’s two-year budget calls for revenue growth of 2.4 percent this fiscal year, but meeting that target would require 3.6 percent revenue growth in May and June. If that doesn’t happen, the state will have to find additional money or make cuts to balance its books.

A recent revenue forecast conducted by the Office of State Budget Director predicted revenue growth of 2.1 percent for the fiscal year that ends June 30, said State Budget Director Jane Driskell.

Large declines in the sales tax, corporate income taxes and property tax collections hampered April’s revenue numbers, Driskell said.

“Continued weakness in the sales tax is particularly conspicuous since the national economy is improving and consumer confidence is growing,” she said.

Sales taxes fell 7.3 percent from the previous April. Corporate income tax collections fell 89.7 percent in April but have increased 2.8 percent year-to-date.

The state’s Road Fund, which relies primarily on gas and other transportation taxes, had one of its best months to date. Revenues were up 18 percent in April compared to April 2011. The state collected $143.1 million for the Road Fund in April, the most ever collected in a single month.

Judge rules cabinet has 30 days to comply with Open Records law

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — A Franklin Circuit Court judge has given the state 30 days to tell the state’s two largest newspapers why it redacted and took out information from more than 140 case files of children who have been killed or nearly killed from abuse or neglect.

Franklin Circuit Court Judge Philip Shepherd also ordered Cabinet for Health and Family Services Secretary Audrey Tayse Haynes to appoint a high-level staffer to oversee the cabinet’s compliance with his order.

Shepherd’s decision on Thursday came after a nearly two-hour hearing in Franklin Circuit Court on the status of the case that has taken almost three years to litigate.

Shepherd said that he would like Haynes to appoint someone by June 10 to oversee the cabinet’s compliance with the Open Records Act. Shepherd also said that he hopes the cabinet will provide detailed explanations of why information was removed by June 10 but gave the cabinet some leeway in case it takes longer given the number of case files involved. The newspapers are asking for the case files of children who have been killed or nearly killed from abuse and neglect in 2009 and 2010.

Prosecutors want Farmer trial moved to fall

By Beth Musgrave
bmusgrave@herald-leader.com

FRANKFORT — Federal prosecutors want the trial of former Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer moved to this fall and say defense lawyers’ request to move the trial to February 2014 is unreasonable, according to documents filed Thursday.

Lawyers for Farmer filed a motion earlier this week asking U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove to delay the July 2 trial until February 2014 “at the earliest.” J. Guthrie True, a lawyer for Farmer, said he had multiple scheduling conflicts and more than 16 compact discs of evidence against Farmer to review, making a July 2 trial impossible.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Taylor, in a response filed in the federal court case, agreed that the case against Farmer — who faces multiple charges of misusing more than $450,000 in taxpayer funds — is complex but said that delaying the trial to February 2014 was “excessive.” Taylor asked that the judge set a trial date for the fall. Taylor noted in court filings that the case against Farmer is “an important case of public interest, and litigation should proceed at a reasonable pace.”