More than $38,000 stolen from Estill County
FRANKFORT, Ky. (Oct. 11, 2019) – Attorney General Andy Beshear and his Office of Special Prosecutions announced the guilty plea of a former Estill County judge-executive for the theft of funds belonging to Estill County.
Wallace Taylor, 57, of Irvine, pleaded guilty Friday to one count of abuse of public trust under $10,000, a Class D felony.
“Kentuckians expect that public officials will follow the law and uphold the public trust,” Beshear said. “Those who would violate that trust need to be held accountable. I congratulate the prosecutors in my office for the result in this case and I thank the Kentucky State Police investigators for their work.”
While serving as the Estill County judge-executive, from December 2016 through March 2017, Taylor took more than $38,000 in state grant money that belonged to the county. He was sentenced to a term of three years, diverted for a period of five years. According to the plea agreement, Taylor will pay restitution of $38,850 to Estill County from the bail money that was posted in this matter.
Kentucky State Police investigated the case, and it was prosecuted by Beshear’s Office of Special Prosecutions.
To report illegal activity on the part of an elected or appointed official contact Beshear’s Department of Criminal Investigations hotline at 866-524-3672 or email DCIForce@ky.gov.
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