In Kentucky, Clay County Officials, Including A Sitting Judge, Face Federal Indictments.

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Clay County officials indicted, 8 arrested
By Bill Estep

Read the indictment here.

Picked candidates for election

Changed votes at the voting machine

Top public officials in Clay County schemed to buy votes in several elections so they could hold on to power and enrich themselves and others, a federal grand jury has charged.

| - William E. Stivers, an election officer in Clay County. Several prominent officials in Clay County schemed to buy votes in the May 2004 primary election, a federal grand jury has alleged.

| - Paul E. Bishop of Manchester, Ky. Several prominent officials in Clay County schemed to buy votes in the May 2004 primary election, a federal grand jury has alleged.

| - Wayne Jones, chairman of the Clay County Democratic Party. Several prominent officials in Clay County schemed to buy votes in the May 2004 primary election, a federal grand jury has alleged.

| - Clay County school superintendent Doug Adams. Several prominent officials in Clay County schemed to buy votes in the May 2004 primary election, a federal grand jury has alleged.

| - Clay County Clerk Freddy Thompson. Several prominent officials in Clay County schemed to buy votes in the May 2004 primary election, a federal grand jury has alleged.

Those indicted include R. Cletus Maricle, 65, who was a circuit judge from 1991 through July 2007 and is now a senior judge; schools Superintendent Douglas C. Adams, 57, who has held the office since 1999; County Clerk Freddy W. Thompson, 45, who won election in 2002; Charles Wayne Jones, 69, the county's Democratic election commissioner; and election officer William E. Stivers, 56.

The five allegedly used the county election board as a tool to corrupt elections between March 2002 and July 2007, according to an indictment released Thursday after FBI agents, state police and other officers swept through the county to arrest them.

Three others were indicted with them: Paul E. Bishop, 60, an election officer; William B. Morris, 66; and Debra L. Morris, 49, who owns a local sanitation business.

All eight are charged with racketeering, a law prosecutors use to combat organized crime. All except Adams and Bishop also face at least one other charge of conspiring to buy votes; some face additional charges, including mail fraud, extortion and obstruction of justice.

For instance, Maricle, long the county's top jurist, and Stivers allegedly told a witness to lie to the grand jury.

Thompson sent false election reports through the mail and lied to a grand jury, the indictment charged, and Jones and Stivers allegedly tried to extort $1,000 from a Manchester City Council candidate in 2004, presumably in return for buying votes for the person, who was not named.

The eight could each face up to 20 years in prison if convicted.

The indictment is the latest development in a federal investigation that has riddled the county's traditional power structure in recent years. Several once-prominent local officials have gone to prison on charges of extortion, protecting a drug dealer, arson and money laundering.

Residents had been expecting more arrests because officials convicted earlier have cooperated with authorities, and because dozens of people have been interviewed by FBI agents or called before grand juries.

There had been a lull of about a year since the last arrests, however, so the new charges — and the prominence of those arrested — were a surprise.

"It's been so long coming that people are in shock this morning," Doug Abner, a minister who has worked to combat drug abuse in the county, said Thursday.

The corruption investigation continues, raising the potential for more charges.

The new indictment says Maricle and Adams were considered "political bosses" in the county and used their influence to appoint corrupt members to the county election board.

Schools superintendents often head the largest employer in rural counties, giving them considerable influence.

Helping people vote

This is how the alleged scheme worked, the indictment said: Maricle and Adams recruited candidates to run for local offices; Thompson provided large sums of money to buy votes; Jones instructed other election officers how to buy votes at polling places; Stivers helped cast corrupt votes, and Bishop and the Morrises bought votes for the candidates that Maricle and Adams had recruited.

Those charged allegedly bought votes in the primary and general elections in 2004 and 2006. Adams was not charged with being part of the scheme to steal the 2006 elections.

The indictment did not list the candidates who allegedly benefited from vote buying, nor did it describe the price of a vote or how much money the conspirators allegedly spent to influence elections.

In 2002, however, a separate group of conspirators headed by Thompson's opponent pooled $490,000 to buy votes in the poor county, according to a document in an earlier fraud case.

The indictment said that in 2006, candidates for office put up money used to buy votes for them. Maricle and Stivers compiled a list of people who would sell their votes, and others in the scheme made arrangements to pay them, the indictment said.