Special prosecutor defends Taylor plea agreement

Former Whitley County Jailer Jerry F. Taylor won’t have to go to prison thanks to a plea bargain he entered Thursday afternoon.
Taylor entered an Alford plea to five counts of forgery in exchange for prosecutors recommending a five-year prison sentence that will be probated for five years. An Alford plea means Taylor still maintains his innocence, but concedes that prosecutors probably had enough evidence to convict him had the case gone to trial.
Special Prosecutor Eddie Montgomery said having Taylor enter an Alford plea rather than a straight guilty plea was something that came up Thursday morning.
“A guilty plea is a guilty plea the way I look at it,” Montgomery said. “He is found guilty legally. There is no difference. He is a convicted felon at this point. He is out of office. I’m OK with it.”
Following the hearing, Montgomery defended his decision to give Taylor a deal, which didn’t call for jail time.
Montgomery said his main concern was to get Taylor out of office in order to get the jail back open.
The jail closed on July 23 after Department of Corrections Commissioner John D. Rees obtained a Franklin Circuit Court order to close it the previous day.
Whitley County officials couldn’t continue to pay to house prisoners in other counties without causing the county to go bankrupt. The jail wouldn’t be allowed to reopen as long as Taylor was jailer, and he wouldn’t resign without a plea agreement, Montgomery said.
“Sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture,” Montgomery said. “This was a first time felony offense for a 67 year old man with no criminal record. These are the types of felonies that the law says shall be probated. One, I don’t think I gave him a break under the law.
“Two, I had to look at the bigger picture. I got him convicted. He is a convicted felon. He is out of office. The Whitley County Jail will reopen. It will save taxpayers thousands of dollars. It is a decision I had to make.”
Montgomery said he didn’t get any pressure from Whitley County officials to strike a deal with Taylor to get the jail open again.
“Amazingly not,” Montgomery noted. “I didn’t talk to them. I knew their plight. I talked to them before the indictment was issued, but I didn’t consult with them about this plea. I knew the facts and circumstances, but I did not get any pressure. It surprised me. I thought I might.”
Special Judge William Cain scheduled formal sentencing for Nov. 14. During that sentencing hearing, the remaining 14 charges against Taylor will be dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
Montgomery said Taylor has already complied with two other provisions of the plea agreement. One called for him to resign as jailer, which he did on Sept. 30 citing health reasons. The second condition of the deal called for Taylor to pay restitution to the county in regards to the forgery charge, which has already been done.
Taylor was indicted on Sept. 14, on five counts of forgery, five counts of theft by unlawful taking over $300, and for four counts each of trafficking in a controlled substance and promoting contraband. In addition, Taylor was also indicted for misfeasance and/or malfeasance in office and/or willful neglect in the discharge of his official duties, which is a misdemeanor offense.
Montgomery said that the evidence, which would have been presented at trial, would have shown that Taylor had a check made out for an employee for hours the employee didn’t work.
“He forged that guy’s name on the check, and cashed it,” Montgomery said.
Montgomery said one of the allegations, if the case had gone to trial, would have been that some of the drugs mentioned in the charges were simply given to inmates.
“At least one of the counts, included an offer of sex in exchange for pills, although it didn’t actually take place,” Montgomery said. “This jail was out of control without a doubt.”
Montgomery said that because of the plea deal, he does not plan to seek additional charges against Taylor.
In 2002, a jury in a federal civil court case ruled that Taylor violated both the 14th Amendment and the Kentucky Civil Rights Act in the sexual harassment of Anita Kelly and Teresa Fulton. The jury concluded that Taylor, and his son Larry, who was formerly the chief deputy jailer, retaliated against both women, and that they violated the state “Whistleblower Statute” in doing so.
In addition, the jury ruled that Whitley County violated the Kentucky Civil Rights Act, and that the county didn’t exercise reasonable care to prevent and correct promptly any sexually harassing behavior.
The jury awarded each woman $50,000 for lost wages and benefits, $25,000 for future lost wages and benefits, and $50,000 for pain, suffering, mental anguish, embarrassment, or humiliation.
In addition, the jury awarded each woman $5,000 in punitive damages from Larry Taylor, and $100,000 in punitive damages from Jerry Taylor.
Another of Taylor’s son, former chief deputy jailer Jerry Allen Taylor, was indicted last month for seven counts of trafficking in a controlled substance and for seven counts of promoting contraband. He pleaded not guilty Thursday, and a hearing has been set for Nov. 14 in his case.
Montgomery said he will make a decision next month on whether to ask the grand jury to consider additional evidence against Jerry Allen Taylor.
“I’ll make a plea offer to him. He can take it. If he doesn’t, then there might be more grand jury investigation,” Montgomery said declining to comment on whether the plea offer would call for probation.
Court officials said Thursday’s hearing was held in Laurel District Court because Cain was already there because he is filling in for Laurel District Judge John Knox Mills, who got called up for active military duty.
Jerry F. Taylor, Jerry Allen Taylor, and their attorney, Ron Reynolds, all declined to comment to the media following the arraignment Thursday.