PIKEVILLE, Ky. (WMDJ) – A Pike County Circuit Judge has been suspended following an indictment by a federal grand jury on charges of mail fraud and theft of government funds.
Judge Howard Keith Hall is accused of appointing a part-time unnamed assistant county attorney and submitting false payroll certifications to the Prosecutors Advisory Council, claiming that the unnamed attorney fulfilled his duties for Pike County between October 1st, 2010 and May 31st, 2020.
The unnamed attorney, who received state benefits, including health insurance and employer contributions to Medicare and Social Security, along with state retirement, was required to work at least 100 hours per month, on average, for the Pike County Attorney’s Office. The indictment further claims the attorney, “performed almost no work on behalf of the county.”
The attorney received a total of $290,140 in gross pay, with a total value of $440,587 with benefits added in. The document also claims Hall worked at that same attorney’s private firm between October 2011 and October 2020, receiving “distributions,” totaling $505,900.
Hall faces up to 20 years in prison on two counts of mail fraud, while the theft of government funds carries a sentence up to 10 years.
