The conviction, which followed five days of trial and a 90-minute jury deliberation, resulted from Hall’s guilty plea in February. Hall, who was a representative for House District 93 in the Kentucky General Assembly, is now awaiting sentencing on August 6.
According to U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky Kerry Harvey, he paid Office of Surface Mine Reclamation and Enforcement mine reclamation officer and environmental inspector Kelly Shortridge for favorable treatment in connection with his official duties.
Between 2006 through 2011, Harvey said, Shortridge inspected mines owned by Hall, ignoring violations that occurred on Hall’s property in exchange for a series of payments totaling more than $46,000.
“The evidence also established that the two men disguised the payments as consulting fees,” Harvey said in a statement, noting that the two set up a shell company, DKJ Consulting, in 2010 in the name of Shortridge’s wife. He then used his own true company, S&K Properties, to funnel funds to Shortridge.
“Mr. Hall’s brazen scheme to corrupt an important governmental function for his personal benefit is made all the more egregious by his former status as a member of the Kentucky General Assembly,” Harvey said Monday.
Hall now faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.
