Friday, March 11, 2011
EKB Capsule News...Kentucky...3-12-'11
Former State Representative and prosecutor Leo Marcum, 68, of Inez, in Martin County, pleaded not guilty Friday to tax evasion charges that allege he failed to pay state income taxes from 2004 to 2009. Marcum was indicted last October by a Franklin County grand jury. State officials say his income over those years was $460,000, but he just didn't file at all. Records in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Kentucky show Marcum was sued in March 2010 by the federal government for $1.3 million in unpaid federal taxes. That case is still pending. Franklin Circuit Judge Phillip Shepherd has set an April 15th hearing to review the state's case against Marcum. Marcum was a Republican state representative from Inez from 1978 to 1979 and was Commonwealth's Attorney from 1987 to 2002 for the 24th Judicial District, which covers Lawrence, Johnson and Martin counties. Marcum was suspended from practicing law for one year in April 2010 for professional misconduct in handling two legal cases.
- U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves sentenced 52 year old William B. Morris to 20 years and 51 year old Debra L. Morris to 10 years on Friday for conspiracy to buy votes, racketeering and money laundering in Clay County. The U.S. attorney's office said Friday that the Morrises bought votes for people running for city council because the candidates controlled contracts for city work related to their sanitation company. The vote fraud case stemmed from the 2002, 2004 and 2006 elections.
Twenty-three year old Tyson T. Mimms, a former defendant in a Louisville murder case has filed suit against A&E and the show "The First 48." Mimms says in the lawsuit that the episode about the shooting death of 21 year old Alfred D. Smith ends by saying Mims is "currently awaiting trial" even though the charges were dismissed due to a lack of evidence the day before the episode aired. Mimms, who says the true-crime TV show portrayed him as a killer, is seeking $3 million.
- The state's hospitals, doctors and pharmacies are bracing for a possible 35 percent cut in Medicaid reimbursement rates if legislators fail next week to fix a shortfall in the program's budget. If payments for treating Medicaid patients are slashed, more than 8,400 doctors' offices, 1,300 pharmacies, 300 nursing homes and 80 hospitals would take a financial hit, and those businesses might drop out of the Medicaid program. Friday, the Cabinet for Health and Family Services announced it was sending notices about the potential cuts which would last from April 1st to July 1st to providers who participate in the health care program for the poor and disabled.
# posted by Homer Owens @ 9:27 PM 
