Joseph Gerth, Andrew Wolfson, and Tom Loftus

The Courier-Journal

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Former Kentucky state personnel secretary Tim Longmeyer has been charged with bribery for allegedly organizing a scheme that steered more than $2 million worth of business to a marketing consultant that then kicked back more than $200,000 to him over the course of one year, according to a federal complaint filed in the Eastern District of Kentucky.

According to an affidavit supporting the criminal complaint, Longmeyer, who resigned this week as a deputy attorney general, and others were engaged in a scheme to launder thousands of dollars through an unnamed consulting company that were then delivered to Longmeyer in the form of cash and campaign contributions.

The affidavit said Longmeyer steered consulting contracts with Humana and Anthem related to the state employees health insurance program, which he oversaw, to the unnamed firm and then received money in return. It alleges that he also directed contributions to two unnamed political campaigns.

Others involved in the alleged kickback scheme are not named in the affidavit.

U.S. Attorney Kerry Harvey said at a news conference that it's "quite possible" that others will be charged but said that no one else in the state attorney general's office is under investigation. He declined to reveal the name of the consulting company at the center of the allegations.

"Our investigation is continuing. We anticipate ongoing law enforcement operations concerning this matter," Harvey said. "Consequently, the information we're able to disclose at this point is limited."

Brian Butler, who is representing Longmeyer with Kenyon Meyer, said: "Tim and his family are obviously devastated by these events. He has done a great deal of good for the people of Jefferson County and the Commonwealth of Kentucky in his distinguished career. It is our fervent hope that everyone remembers all his countless positive contributions as they consider today's events"

Harvey said, "This is an important case which no doubt will be of considerable public interest. We take no joy in this announcement, however, because the alleged misconduct represents a serious betrayal of the public trust."

He said he had no reason to believe Humana or Anthem, which provided insurance for the program and hired the consultant, knew of the scheme. He also said he does not believe the candidates whose campaigns received tainted contributions were aware of the scheme.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Longmeyer faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted. He was not arrested, Harvey said, but was served a summons commanding him to appear in court April 20.

Attorney General Andy Beshear said in a statement that he was "devastated" by the claims of wrongdoing that were alleged to have occurred while Longmeyer worked for Beshear's father, former Gov. Steve Beshear.

“Today I was informed for the first time of a criminal complaint against Tim Longmeyer, who resigned earlier in the week," he said in the statement. "The allegations deal with his prior employment and are entirely unrelated to his time in the Attorney General’s Office. My office is fully cooperating with the U.S. Attorney and the FBI, and will continue to do so."

Steve Beshear issued a statement saying he was "shocked and dismayed" at the charges against Longmeyer. "Soon after I took office (in December 2007), I used my powers of executive order to put in place a strong set of ethics rules, stronger than required, and I made it clear that everyone in the executive branch was to be held to the highest standard."

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Harvey said the alleged illegal activity began in 2011 and continued through 2015.

According to the affidavit, Longmeyer used his position to get Humana and Anthem to agree to hire the unnamed firm to do consulting services, including focus groups and telephone surveys. Humana paid the company more than $2 million, the affidavit said.

The affidavit said that Longmeyer arranged clandestine meetings with a representative of the consulting company at numerous places, including the parking lot of a Kroger in Versailles, Ky., and a McDonald's in Midway, Ky., during, which he told the company's representative how much to charge the insurance companies and the amount that should be kicked back to him.

The consulting company then converted the money into cash through a series of transactions and then repaid people who wrote checks to political campaigns Longmeyer was supporting, the FBI affidavit said.

According to a ledger kept by the consulting firm and provided to the FBI by a confidential informant, $181,000 from the Humana contract was kicked back to Longmeyer between Nov. 21, 2014, and June 19, 2015. There was a balance of $9,000 still due to Longmeyer, according to the ledger. The vast majority of that was in cash, with $6,000 in checks written to political campaigns.

The informant told investigators that the consulting firm recruited him and others to write checks to specified political campaigns and then reimbursed them. The informant, the affidavit said, provided his own bank records to corroborate that.

The affidavit says that Kentucky Registry of Election Finance records corroborate the informant's claim that he made political contributions to two candidates on corresponding dates.

The informant also provided a surreptitiously recorded conversation in which a representative of the consulting firm complained that he had paid Longmeyer thousands of his own money but that he expected to get more work through him. "I don't know, but I think when the well runs dry, you get used to that water, you're going to come back for it," the company representative said on the tape.

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In the affidavit, FBI agent Jim Huggins said he witnessed the representative of the consulting firm meet with Longmeyer twice to deliver kickbacks from a contract to provide services for Anthem.

On Sept.10, the two met at the Midway McDonald's, where the company representative delivered kickbacks, according to the affidavit. The confidential informant recorded a conversation in which the consulting company's representative said that it would be paid $48,000 by Anthem and would have to give Longmeyer $22,500, the affidavit says.

Huggins said in the affidavit that he witnessed a meeting in Longmeyer's car at the Versailles Kroger in which he believes he accepted a $5,000 kickback on Oct. 2, and in his car at the McDonald's in which he believes Longmeyer accepted $22,500.

Harvey declined to say Friday whether videotape evidence was gathered during the investigation.

FBI Special Agent Howard Marshall commended the unidentified informant. "Concerned citizens are our biggest ally. Today's a prime example of that," Marshall said at the news conference. "One person stood up. And they made a difference – a difference in the entire state."

Harvey said investigators believe the unidentified consulting firm did legitimate business and was not created for the purpose of the alleged scheme.

"In this case, I think the specific activities that were associated with these contracts would have to do with public relations-related work, particularly maybe doing focus groups and that sort of thing" to contact state employees for their opinion of their health plan, Harvey said.

Longmeyer stepped down as cabinet secretary in September to practice law in Louisville.

He had been secretary since January 2011. Prior to that, he was its deputy secretary.

Since January, he has served as deputy attorney general under Andy Beshear.

Longmeyer was Gov. Beshear's top adviser on health insurance benefits for the 275,000 people on the state health plan. He also was an ex-officio trustee on the Kentucky Retirement Systems Board.

Beshear noted when Longmeyer left that under his leadership, participation in preventive care programs had reached more than 90 percent of the state health plan's participants. And he worked to offer retiree health benefits through the Medicare Advantage plan, saving the retirement system money, the governor said.

Longmeyer was a prosecutor for more than 14 years in the Jefferson County Attorney's Office. He has served as division chief of the Family Court Prosecutors as well as legislative liaison for the office in Frankfort.

He received a bachelor's of arts from the University of Kentucky and a law degree from the University of Louisville.

Prior to going to work for the Beshear administration, Longmeyer was chairman of the Jefferson County Democratic Party.

Reporter Tom Loftus can be reached at (502) 875-5136. Reporter Joseph Gerth can be reached at (502) 582-4702. Reporter Andrew Wolfson can be reached at (502) 582-7189.