Former Kentucky prosecutor who exchanged leniency for sex, meth sentenced to prison
A former Kentucky prosecutor who admitted to helping people in court in exchange for sex and methamphetamine was sentenced Thursday to four years and six months in prison.
Scott Blair, 52, was commonwealth’s attorney for Perry County when the FBI and Kentucky State Police began investigating allegations that he was abusing his position, according to an affidavit filed in the case.
As commonwealth’s attorney, Blair prosecuted felony criminal cases. He was elected to the position in 2019.
The investigation turned up several examples of Blair using his position to recommend probation or drug treatment for people facing drug charges, rather than prison time, or not moving to send someone to jail on a parole violation, “in exchange for quantities of methamphetamine, procurement of methamphetamine, and sexual favors,” according to his guilty plea.
In one example, Blair acknowledged telling someone in a Facebook conversation that he wouldn’t recommend revoking the person’s probation for missing a court date, then asked the person to come over for sex.
Blair sent the person a message saying, “You should know I watch out for you,” according to an affidavit from Zachary Bryson, a state police officer who investigated as part of an FBI task force.
Blair pleaded guilty to a charge of honest services wire fraud, meaning he deprived people of the honest services he owed them as an elected official, and used electronic communications, such as Facebook, as part of the crime.
Blair faced a sentence between 46 and 57 months under advisory guidelines.
His attorney, Ned Pillersdorf, said Blair had been a good prosecutor but was undone by his severe, longstanding depression and addiction to meth, which clouded his judgment.
Blair’s salary was about $120,000 a year but he is in debt, Pillersdorf said in the memo.
“It is clear that his various methamphetamine suppliers are the cause of Mr. Blair’s insolvent state,” Pillersdorf said.
Blair told U.S. District Judge Robert E. Wier at the hearing Thursday that he had tried more than two dozen medications for depression without lasting success, before turning to meth in desperation.
“I’m not a bad person. I’m just a person who made mistakes,” he said.
Pillersdorf sought a sentence at the bottom of the guidelines, three years and 10 months, noting that Blair quickly accepted responsibility and has lost his career and been publicly humiliated.
Supporters of Blair, including educators, business owners, church members and attorneys, filed 120 pages of letters with the court seeking leniency for him.
They described Blair’s compassion, generosity and kindness, his work to help people through the court system, his support for charitable causes and his work on community organizations such as the Salvation Army and a facility for abused children.
One woman whose son died of a drug overdose said Blair helped her set up a booth at a community event to educate people on the dangers of fentanyl; another said he bought an air-conditioner for an elderly lady; and another recalled him offering to pick up groceries and medication when she came down with COVID-19 on Thanksgiving.
“Scott is a genuinely good person who became engulfed in the throes of addiction,” Michael Mulligan Deaton said in a letter.
But the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin E. Blankenship, said during the hearing that Blair was living two lives.
One was the public life the supporters saw, and the other was a private one in which he victimized people who were vulnerable because of their drug addiction and legal troubles, Blankenship said.
The court system became a “hunting ground” for Blair, the prosecutor said, where he used his power over people he was prosecuting to involve them in getting meth for him — perpetuating the harm of the corrosive drug he was supposed to be fighting — and to coerce them to perform sex acts.
One victim who submitted a letter to the court said Blair had him pick up meth for him and said he wanted to perform a sex act on the victim.
Blair held the threat of jail over the man’s head, so he felt he didn’t have a choice, according to his statement, which the prosecutor and judge cited in court.
“He held my life in his hands so I done whatever he told me to do,” the victim wrote.
In sentencing Blair, Wier said he deserved credit for the good he had accomplished.
But the judge said Blair violated the oath he took to uphold the law, abused his office and exploited the weak in pursuit of his own desires, and corroded the public trust that is vital to the integrity of the court system.
Wier said that while he believed most public officials try to do the right thing, the history of Kentucky suggests some public officials are vulnerable to the temptation to abuse their offices, and that the sentence for Blair must send a message that such conduct is intolerable.
Wier acknowledged Blair had struggled with mental health problems and addiction, but said that did not rob him of the ability to make rational decisions.
He also rejected any idea that Blair was a victim or simply made a mistake, saying Blair engaged in “intentional criminality.”
“You were victimizing others,” Wier said.
Blair has been in jail since he was arrested in April, and will get credit for that time against his sentence.
Blair could cut a year off his sentence if he qualifies for a drug-treatment program in prison and completes it, meaning he could be out in about three years, Pillersdorf said.
Blair resigned as commonwealth’s attorney soon after being arrested.
