CHARLESTON — After more than two days of deliberations, a federal jury found West Virginia Supreme Court Justice Allen Loughry guilty on 11 counts and not guilty on 10. The jury could not decide on the one remaining count.
Loughry was stoic as the verdict was read and walked out of the federal courthouse in Charleston shortly after that without making any comment. Reporters asked if he will now resign from the state Supreme Court, but Loughry said nothing.
U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart and his team addressed reporters from the courthouse steps. Stuart praised jurors for carefully considering the facts of the case. He also said the outcome sends a strong message about public corruption.
With Loughry being found guilty of 11 counts and fellow Justice Menis Ketchum pleading guilty to a separate wire fraud charge, two of West Virginia’s five Supreme Court justices now face significant federal penalties.
Sentencing for Loughry was scheduled for Jan. 16, 2019. He has 14 days to decide whether to file a motion for a new trial.
Federal prosecutors asked that Loughry be placed on home confinement with an electronic monitor, but the judge declined taking that step.
A jury of 10 women and two men deliberated the 22 federal counts against Loughry.
Jurors began deliberating about 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. U.S. District Judge John Copenhaver sent the jury home for the evening about 5 p.m. The jurors then reconvened at 9:30 a.m. today.
The jurors were to consider each of the 22 counts individually and were instructed to decide unanimously whether Loughry is guilty or not guilty on each.
“Each of you must consider the case for himself or herself,” Copenhaver told jurors. “Your sole interest is to seek the evidence in this case.”
Each side in Loughry’s trial presented closing arguments on Wednesday morning, with prosecutors saying Loughry is corrupt and the justice’s defense saying he’s been misinterpreted by political schemers.
Loughry originally faced 25 federal charges, but three were dismissed voluntarily by prosecutors before opening statements even began. Those charges had to do with an antique “Cass Gilbert” desk Loughry was accused of taking home from the Capitol, and a related obstruction charge.
The remaining charges against Loughry, the author of “Don’t Buy Another Vote, I Won’t Pay for Landslide: The Sordid and Continuing History of Political Corruption in West Virginia,” accused him of mail fraud, wire fraud, tampering with a witness and lying to federal agents.
Most of the counts alleged that he used a state vehicle and state-issued gasoline card for personal travel. Two more were fraud counts that he drove the state vehicle to conferences but also accepted travel cost reimbursement.
One was a witness tampering count, alleging he tried to coach Supreme Court employee Kim Ellis into a statement about the cost of his office renovation, knowing a federal investigation was possible.
And two more counts had to do with the antique “Cass Gilbert” desk in Loughry’s home.
One alleged he made a false statement about the whereabouts of the desk to an FBI agent, and another alleged he instructed Supreme Court spokeswoman Jennifer Bundy to issue a false statement to media about a home office policy for justices.
Public controversy has surrounded Loughry for more than a year now as he faced allegation after allegation about the expensive remodeling of his office, his use of state vehicle for private travel and his moving an antique “Cass Gilbert” desk from the state Capitol to his home.
The scandals started with WCHS-TV reports about the office renovation. Loughry, in those television reports, initially blamed fired Supreme Court administrator Steve Canterbury.
Loughry went to federal investigators with his concerns, prompting them to dig into Supreme Court finances.
The trial lasted more than a week. A full day of jury selection was required last Tuesday to find 12 jurors plus two alternates who expressed an open mind, despite a year of media attention on Loughry.
Federal prosecutors called a range of witnesses — some to provide expertise on the travel records and cell tower data that composed the backbone of the case.
Others, like Ellis, Bundy and former Supreme Court Justice Brent Benjamin described not only the ins and outs of how the court functions, but also their interactions with Loughry.
Finally, the defense called Loughry himself, who wound up disputing almost everybody else’s testimony over the course of his own six hours on the witness stand.
Before the trial began and at each day’s conclusion, Judge Copenhaver warned jurors to steer clear of both traditional and social media, where they might accidentally be exposed to information about Loughry.
