Ricky Parnell, Honest Services Fraud, Kentucky 2024

Former Fulton County Jailer Ricky Parnell has been found guilty of receiving kickbacks tied to a $3.3 million construction project on the Fulton County Detention Center, announced United States Attorney John E. Kuhn, Jr.

Parnell, 59, of Hickman, Kentucky, pleaded guilty to Honest Services Fraud and multiple counts of Wire Fraud for using his official position to enrich himself by soliciting and accepting gifts and payments from defendant contractors, in exchange for influencing the Fulton County Fiscal Court to award the defendants contracts on the project.

Parnell admitted to directing Ronald D. Armstrong, 60, of Dresden, Tennessee; Jimmy Boyd, 56, of South Fulton, Tennessee; Michael Homra, 79, of Fulton, Kentucky; and Daniel C. Larcom, 42, of Union City, Tennessee, to intentionally overcharge Fulton County for services and supplies provided as part of jail projects. Parnell presented the inflated invoices and contracts to the Fulton County treasurer for payment to the defendants and their respective companies.

In turn, the defendant contractors would use the excess proceeds to pay kickbacks, in the form of both cash and checks, to Parnell. Parnell received at least $175,000 in money and other things of value.

The charged activity took place between April 2015 and August 2016. Parnell served as the Fulton County Jailer from 1990 until late last year and remains free on bond. A sentencing date is scheduled in Paducah, before Senior Judge Thomas B. Russell, on July 3rd.

If convicted at trial, Parnell could be sentenced to no more than 20 years in prison per count, pay a $250,000 fine for each count, and be sentenced to serve a three-year period of supervised release.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nute Bonner and is being investigated by the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).