Tim Nolan case leads to the arrest of another NKY attorney on human trafficking charges

Scott Wartman | Cincinnati Enquirer

Show Caption Hide Caption Reaction to Tim Nolan sentencing Judy Malone, of the Anti-Human Trafficking Network, gives her reaction to former judge, Tim Nolan's sentencing for human trafficking.

The downfall of former prominent Northern Kentucky judge Tim Nolan has led to another attorney facing human trafficking charges.

Robert Poole, of Burlington, was arrested Friday on several counts of human trafficking and unlawful transaction with a minor, Attorney General Andy Beshear announced.

The investigation into Poole began after Nolan was sentenced in May to 20 years in prison for human trafficking.

The charges against Nolan involved 19 women, seven of which were under 18, and go back as far as 2004. All but two were addicted to opioids, prosecutors said.

Nolan's case attracted national attention. Many questioned how such a well-known political figure could have committed such acts unknown to the rest of the community.

For decades, Nolan was a prominent conservative activist, lawyer and politician.

More: Tim Nolan was a judge. Tim Nolan was a conservative activist. Tim Nolan was a human trafficker.

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Nolan brash style made him one of the most visible campaigners for President Donald Trump in Northern Kentucky in 2016. At the time, Nolan called himself Trump's Northern Kentucky campaign chairman. Once he was arrested, Trump supporters in Northern Kentucky distanced themselves from Nolan. They said he never officially served for Trump's campaign and there was no such position as Northern Kentucky campaign chairman. Nolan did serve as a Trump-supporting delegate in April 2016 at the Kentucky Republican Convention and led the unsuccessful charge to remove U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell as a delegate to the Republican National Convention.

Beshear wouldn't comment further on Poole's connection to Nolan or the Nolan case. He said in a statement the Campbell County Police who investigated Nolan referred information to the Erlanger Police about Poole.

A grand jury indicted Poole on the charges on Thursday.

The charges range from this year back to 2005. In the most recent charge, the indictment alleges in May 2018 Poole attempted to bribe a witness.

Other charges include two counts of human trafficking of a minor and three counts of human trafficking of an adult; one count of unlawful transaction with a minor under 16; two counts of unlawful transaction with a minor under 18; five counts of complicity to human trafficking; and one count of third-degree rape.

Poole remains in the Kenton County Detention Center in Covington on $100,000 cash bond. He is scheduled for arraignment at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 26.