State senator to face charges, attorney says By Jack Brammer & Lee Mueller, Lexington Herald-Leader, May 3, 2005 FRANKFORT - State Sen. Johnny Ray Turner, who unseated veteran lawmaker Benny Ray Bailey in a rough-and-tumble Eastern Kentucky Democratic primary election in 2000, is expected to be indicted on charges of vote fraud in connection with that election, his attorney said yesterday. Lexington attorney Brent Caldwell said in a statement that the U.S. Attorney's Office has advised him "that it intends to seek a mail fraud/conspiracy to commit voter fraud indictment" against Turner. Caldwell said Turner, 55, will "vigorously defend himself against any charge brought against him" and will not resign from the state Senate. "He looks forward to continuing to serve his district and the entire Commonwealth of Kentucky," the attorney said. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ken Taylor declined to confirm that Turner will be indicted. "Defense attorneys are free to say what they want in public, but we're not," Taylor said. Turner, caucus chairman for state Senate Democrats, could not be reached for comment. His attorney said the financial transactions of Turner's 2000 campaign, "along with other candidates' campaigns," have been the subject of investigations for many months by the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office. He declined to elaborate, only adding that "Sen. Turner, like all American citizens, is presumed innocent under our Constitution." Bailey, who operates a medical clinic in Hindman with Dr. Grady Stumbo, a former state Democratic Party chairman, could not be reached for comment last night. In 2000, Turner, a high school basketball coach and a political newcomer with strong local ties and a well-known name, defeated Bailey, a 20-year incumbent. Vote hauling played a big part in the surprising defeat of Bailey. The practice of paying people $50 or $100 to take voters to the polls has long been common in many Eastern Kentucky counties, and has often been criticized as tantamount to buying votes. According to campaign finance reports, Turner doled out about $34,000 to pay more than 650 people to haul voters or perform other campaign work. Bailey spent $16,700 to pay more than 330 people to take voters to the polls. Turner beat Bailey by 1,467 votes in the 29th Senate District, which included Breathitt, Floyd, Johnson and Knott counties. With redistricting in 2002, Johnson County is no longer in the 29th District. In the days before the vote, Turner was given a major boost from the coal industry, which contributed $33,500 to his campaign, much of it in the last 21/2 weeks of the race. In his 20-year career, Bailey usually took the side of coalfield citizens against that of the coal industry, the region's dominant employer. Turner outspent Bailey by more than $100,000. Turner's finance report showed that he received $184,000 of his $278,762 in collections after May 4, the closing date of the last report he had to file before the election. In McDowell on Left Beaver Creek in Floyd County, where Turner was a star high school athlete, news yesterday of his pending indictment did not discourage at least one supporter. Turner has done an excellent job for education and the community, said Libbi Hall, a retired high school teacher. "I assume, if he's fighting it, he feels like he's innocent," Hall said. "I mean, I would hate to lose him as a senator."