EKB News

KENTUCKY....

Former State Representative, former Democratic Party Leader and former Perry County Circuit Court Clerk, Chester Jones of Hazard, is appealing his 12-month sentence after pleading guilty in May to mail fraud, while while the other charges alleging vote buying and conspiracy were dropped. Jones was indicted last year along with former Perry County Judge Executive Sherman Neace of Bonnyman after they were accused of taking $7500 from the State Democratic Party to buy votes in the November 2008 election. One month after Jones was sentenced, the U.S Supreme Court issued a ruling that mail fraud consisted of actions that lead to profit, such as bribery. Jones’s attorney, James Hibbard of London, says, based on the ruling, the charge on which his client was convicted is not actually a crime because Jones did not profit from the action. The case will go before a three-judge panel on December 6th.