Impeached KY prosecutor gets prison time for seeking nude photos from defendant

A former Kentucky prosecutor has been sentenced to three years and five months in prison for his conviction in a case in which he solicited sexually explicit images from a woman and helped her on her criminal charges.

The sentence for Ronnie Goldy was the maximum under advisory guidelines.

Chief U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves sentenced Goldy in federal court in Lexington Friday.

Reeves said Goldy violated the trust voters placed in him by electing him to prosecute crimes.

“This was a very serious white-collar offense,” Reeves said at the hearing. “He’s not shown respect for the law by his actions.”

Goldy, 52, was commonwealth’s attorney for Rowan, Bath, Menifee and Montgomery counties from 2013 until he resigned in February 2023 as state lawmakers considered whether to remove him from office.

The Senate went on to unanimously convict Goldy in March, the first impeachment hearing and trial conducted in the Kentucky Senate in 135 years.

Federal authorities accused him of doing favors for Misty Helton, a woman with an extensive record of criminal charges that included receiving stolen property, theft, assault and drug trafficking.

Among other things, Goldy allegedly lied to a state judge in seeking Helton’s release from jail; pushed to get her car released after it was impounded in a criminal case; got court dates continued for her; and suggested to another prosecutor that he reduce a drug charge against Helton.

In return, Goldy repeatedly asked Helton to send him nude photos and explicit videos of herself, a grand jury charged.

Goldy denied soliciting explicit photos and videos, but a jury convicted him of all 14 charges in the indictment, including honest services wire fraud.

That was a charge that he defrauded the public out of the honest services he owed as an elected official and used electronic communications in the crime.

Goldy’s attorney, Michael Curtis, asked Reeves to sentence him to 33 months, the minimum under the guidelines, noting that Goldy has lost his livelihood and that his family will lose their home.

Goldy also sought a lower sentence, apologizing to Reeves and to his family, saying his family didn’t deserve the attention the case has generated.

However, the prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew T. Boone, sought a sentence of 51 months for Goldy.

That sentence would have been above the advisory guideline range. The range is not binding on federal judges.

Boone said that instead of holding Helton to account — as a prosecutor should have — Goldy’s actions enabled her to avoid the full consequences of her criminal behavior.

At one point, a person with Helton overdosed on drugs, and in another she led police on a high-speed chase and nearly hit another driver, Boone said.

“He enabled a dangerous menace to society,” Boone said of Goldy going to bat for Helton.

Goldy testified that he never solicited explicit photos or videos from Helton, and that his Facebook messages to her about videos were an attempt to get evidence of drug transactions, Goldy told jurors.

The jury rejected his claims, and Reeves ruled at the sentencing hearing that Goldy committed perjury in his testimony. That increased the potential sentence for Goldy.

Reeves said 41 months was a sufficient punishment for Goldy and declined to impose a $15,000 fine, citing the hardship it would cause his family.

Curtis said Goldy will appeal the conviction.

Reeves ordered Goldy to report to prison June 24.

This story will be updated.