Former Kentucky State Representative Sentenced to 2 Years for Aggravated Identity Theft for Aggravated Identity Theft

PIKEVILLE, Ky. – Former Kentucky State Representative Wendell Keith Hall, 58, of Pikeville, was sentenced today to two years in prison, by Chief United States District Judge Karen K. Caldwell, for Aggravated Identity Theft.  Judge Caldwell ordered that the sentence run consecutively, as required by law, to the 84-month prison sentence Hall is already serving for his 2015 conviction on bribery-related charges.  In the bribery case, Hall, who owned coal mines and various coal industry-related businesses, was convicted by a Federal jury of paying a state mine reclamation inspector for favorable inspections and other favors related to the inspector’s job. 

In February of this year, pursuant to a plea agreement, Hall pleaded guilty to one count of another, six-count indictment.  The Aggravated Identity Theft offense was committed while Hall was pending trial and sentencing in the earlier case.  The charge arose from Hall’s submission of fake documents to certify to another company, with which he had business contracts, that he had the required worker’s compensation and liability insurance coverage.   Hall admitted that he caused the fake documents to be created and that they bore the forged name of an insurance executive, which was the basis of the identity theft charge.   

Under federal law, Hall must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence; and upon his release, he will be under the supervision of the United States Probation Office for three years to run concurrently with his other supervised release.

Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Amy Hess, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau Investigation, jointly made the announcement.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI.  The United States was represented by Assistant United States Attorneys Ken Taylor and Erin Roth.