Former Kentucky prosecutor arrested by FBI in Morehead on fraud, bribery charges
Ronnie Goldy Jr., a former commonwealth attorney who was impeached and convicted by the state legislature earlier this year, was arrested Friday by the FBI in Morehead.
Goldy, the ex-commonwealth’s attorney for Bath, Menifee, Montgomery and Rowan counties, was taken into federal custody Friday morning at an address on Circle Drive, said Katie Anderson, a public affairs specialist with the FBI.
Goldy, 51, was charged with six counts of honest services wire fraud, six counts of using interstate communication to commit bribery and two counts of federal program bribery, an indictment unsealed Friday showed.
The allegations laid out in the indictment stem from a relationship Goldy had with an unnamed individual. Goldy engaged in sexual acts with the individual and solicited and accepted sexually explicit photographs and videos from the individual.
In exchange, Goldy used his office as commonwealth attorney to benefit the unnamed individual, who had pleaded guilty to multiple crimes within Goldy’s jurisdiction between 2015 and 2020, the indictment alleged.
On different occasions, Goldy allegedly agreed to ask for the individual’s release from jail, withdrawal of arrest warrants, the postponement of a court hearing and asked a special prosecutor to sign an order releasing the individual’s previously impounded property, the indictment showed.
The arrest comes months after Goldy was unanimously convicted by the state Senate in Kentucky’s first impeachment trial in 135 years. His impeachment and conviction came after Goldy was accused of providing legal favors for a woman in exchange for nude photos. The conviction barred Goldy from holding future office.
Last year, a state hearing officer concluded that Goldy solicited sexually explicit photos and videos from a woman named Misty Helton after Goldy helped her in court. A former boyfriend of Helton’s took screenshots of the Facebook messages between the two and provided them to a Louisville attorney.
Screenshots previously provided to the Herald-Leader showed that Goldy sent Helton gas money at one point; searched whether she had outstanding arrest warrants; said he would try to move court dates for her; and advised her on getting back her car, which had been impounded after an arrest.
Goldy will make his first appearance in federal court in Lexington at 4 p.m. Monday, a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
If convicted, Goldy faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for each of the wire fraud charges. He faces up to 10 years for each of the federal program bribery charges and five years for the electronic communication bribery charges.
This story was originally published August 18, 2023 at 12:27 PM.