Tom Loftus

USA TODAY Sports

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Basketball hero Richie Farmer was sentenced Tuesday to 27 months in federal prison for spending public funds on himself, his family and friends while serving as Kentucky's agriculture commissioner from 2004-2011.

Prosecutors had asked for a 27-month term for Farmer — the maximum under federal sentencing guidelines for the two counts of misappropriating public funds to which Farmer pleaded guilty last year.

Farmer's attorney argued for 21 months, the minimum sentence.

He will report to prison on March 18.

Farmer said to the people of Kentucky during his sentencing that he was "truly, truly sorry."

As part of his sentence, Farmer also must pay $120,500 in restitution to the state as part of his plea agreement.

U.S. District Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove presided at Tuesday's sentencing hearing, which for the most part will bring to an end two years of investigations of Farmer.

Despite the tough sentence, the judge said Farmer's UK number should remain in the rafters of Rupp Arena.

Jay Blanton, a spokesman for UK, said that the university has not considered taking down his number.

Farmer, 44, of Manchester, gained statewide fame as a teenager by leading his Clay County High School basketball team to a state championship in 1987. The following year Farmer led his team to the finals and was named Kentucky's "Mr. Basketball."

He went on to play for a beloved University of Kentucky team that has been nicknamed "The Unforgettables."

Farmer used his popularity as a basketball player to launch a career in politics.

In 2003 and in 2007 he won landslide elections as agriculture commissioner. Many Republicans considered him a future candidate for governor.

But in 2011 he ran for lieutenant governor on a ticket led by then-Senate President David Williams.

The Williams-Farmer ticket had a bumpy ride, surviving a surprisingly close Republican primary and getting drubbed in November by Democratic Gov. Steve Beshear and running mate Jerry Abramson.

It was during that campaign that media reports uncovered spending and hiring abuses within the Department of Agriculture during Farmer's tenure.

In January 2012, Farmer's successor as commissioner, Republican James Comer, asked the new Democratic Auditor Adam Edelen for a special examination of the department.

Three months later Edelen issued a scathing report that triggered the federal investigation and served as the foundation of his indictment.

Last September, Farmer signed plea agreements with federal and state prosecutors as well as the Executive Branch Ethics Commission, which resolved all investigations.

The two counts to which Farmer admitted alleged he misappropriated public funds by putting three friends in no-show jobs and that he kept for his personal use a cache of leftover gifts – rifles, rifle cases, knives, wristwatches, gift cards and cigars — purchased for guests at a 2008 convention sponsored by the Department of Agriculture.

In requesting the maximum sentence for Farmer, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth Taylor described Farmer's tenure as commissioner this way:

"Excessive gifts were purchased and then taken home by the defendant. He used state personnel to perform tasks for his personal benefit, including building a basketball court and driving him and his family to events and hunting trips. He hired friends and relatives and expected little from them. He had items such as laptops, personal refrigerators, filing cabinets purchased with state funds and then used them at home, keeping some of them after leaving office.

"He pre-selected employees for merit positions, essentially rigging what should have been a competitive hiring process. Farmer also exhibited a pattern of requesting and expecting persons and businesses to give him things free of charge."

Farmer will have one more court appearance. On Friday he is scheduled to be sentenced in Franklin Circuit Court on a state charge that he took thousands of dollars in funds left over from his 2007 election campaign by filing false expenses with the campaign. Under his agreements with prosecutors, Farmer's sentence on this state charge will run concurrent with the time he serves in federal prison.

Tom Loftus writes for The Courier-Journal in Louisville.