Former Kentucky GOP state legislator receives 2-year prison sentence in fraud case

05 October 2022

Former Kentucky State Representative Robert Goforth has received a 25-month prison sentence following his guilty plea in connection with the federal investigation into health care fraud and money laundering at his pharmacy.

According to the Courier-Journal, a spokesperson speaking on behalf of U.S. prosecutors in the Kentucky Eastern District noted that "the former Republican legislator's sentence includes two years of supervised release as well, in addition to orders to pay a $10,000 fine and $2.7 million in restitution."

As part of his guilty plea, Goforth admitted that he'd "improperly billing insurance programs in excess of $2.7 million for prescriptions."

Those invoices were for prescriptions customers never picked up. He also compounded profits by restocking those same medications and reselling that inventory again.

At the sentencing on Monday, Goforth spoke to the judge about his actions. “I am ashamed of myself,” Goforth said. “I tried to be a good role model, and all of the work I did will be tainted forever by the decisions I made to commit these crimes.”

The sentence comes just months after Goforth's attorney weighed in with his opinion of the possible sentence his client could receive. At the time, his attorney predicted that his sentence might be between 24 to 37 months.

The federal ruling handed down on Monday, October 3 comes months after the Republican legislator also pled guilty to a fourth-degree domestic violence charge. For that charge, which stemmed from his arrest back in April 3030, he received a 59-day sentence.

Initially, Goforth had been charged with first-degree strangulation and domestic assault. According to the police citation, per the news outlet, the lawmaker's wife claimed he "strangled her with a cord 'to the point that she had difficulty breathing and believed she was going to pass out.'"

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