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Attention: News Director |
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY Eastern District of Kentucky |
LONDON, Ky. —The former mayor of Manchester, Daugh K. White, 74, former Assistant Chief of Police Richard Todd Roberts, 36 and current Manchester City Councilman Darnell Hipsher, 47, were arraigned yesterday in United States District Court in London, Ky, after being arrested on Friday of last week.
The 13-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury on May 2, 2007, and unsealed today, charges White, Roberts and Hipsher with racketeering. The City of Manchester is alleged to be an enterprise in which the defendants were using to advance a pattern of racketeering.
Racketeering acts alleged include arson, drug distribution, extortion, and mail fraud. It also charges Roberts and White with conspiracy to distribute cocaine, oxycodone, methadone, and hydrocodone, distributing cocaine; charges Roberts with theft of programs receiving federal funds; and charges Hipsher with testifying falsely before a federal grand jury.
White, Roberts and Hipsher are accused of controlling the affairs of the city, directly and indirectly, through a pattern of illegal acts including arson, drug distribution, extortion of payments from contractors relating to city government contracts for their own financial benefit, utilizing city resources for their personal benefit and protecting Bobby Joe Curry, a drug dealer, from possible criminal prosecution.
The indictment alleges that Hipsher and White aided and abetted by each other, deprived the citizens of Manchester of honest services by paving 32 private driveways and patching four private driveways. It is further alleged that they schemed to disguise the free paving with invoices to only 11 people at reduced amounts, and by mailing the invoices, committed mail fraud.
If convicted, White and Roberts each face up to life in prison, a $4 million fine, and at least five years supervised release. Hipsher, if convicted, faces up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years supervised release. Any sentence after conviction will be imposed by the Court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and applicable federal statutes.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The United States was represented in the case by Assistant United States Attorney Stephen C. Smith.
White, Roberts and Hipsher are scheduled for trial on May 29, 2007 at 9:30 a.m. in United States District Court in Frankfort, Ky. before U.S. District Court Judge Danny C. Reeves.
The indictment of a person by a grand jury is an accusation only, that person is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.