Guess who’s getting out of jail just in time for the holidays? Former Cat and state agricultural commissioner Richie Farmer. According to LEX18, Farmer will be released from jail on Friday, and will be taken by his parents to a halfway house in Lexington.
In case you’ve blocked Farmer’s saga from your memory, in January 2014, he was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison in West Virginia after agreeing to a plea deal for using state money on himself, family, and friends while he was the state agricultural commissioner. Just a few of his indiscretions: using Department of Agriculture employees to work on his Frankfort home, including building a basketball court in his backyard; hiring friends, including his girlfriend, as special assistants who did little or no work for the agency; and using government employees to do personal errands, including babysitting, mowing his yard and chauffeuring his dog.