Former Perry County Commonwealth’s Attorney Sentenced for Federal Honest Services Wire Fraud

LONDON, Ky.— The former Commonwealth’s Attorney, for the 33rd Judicial Circuit of Kentucky, Scott Blair, 52, of Hazard, Ky., was sentenced to 54 months in prison on Thursday, by U.S. District Judge Robert Wier, for committing honest services wire fraud.

According to his guilty plea agreement, between April 2020 and March 2024, Blair knowingly and intentionally devised a scheme to fraudulently deprive the citizens of Perry County of their right to his honest services, as the elected Commonwealth’s Attorney, through bribery.  On multiple occasions, Blair agreed to take official actions, in his position as the Commonwealth’s Attorney – including making recommendations on probation, drug court, and probation violations or sanctions for defendants he was prosecuting – in exchange for methamphetamine and sexual favors.

Under federal law, Blair must serve 85 percent of his prison sentence.  Upon his release from prison, he will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for three years.

Carlton S. Shier, IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Michael E. Stansbury, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Louisville Field Division; Russell Coleman, Kentucky Attorney General; and Col. Phillip J. Burnett, Jr., Commissioner of the Kentucky State Police, jointly announced the sentence.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI, the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office, and the KSP.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Blankenship is prosecuting the matter on behalf of the United States.

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