Billboard in Louisville advertises Sam Aguiar’s law firm. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Deborah Yetter)
FRANKFORT — A Franklin County grand jury last week declined to indict prominent Louisville attorney Sam Aguiar in an investigation into whether Aguiar made excessive campaign contributions in the names of straw donors to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s 2019 campaign for governor.
The no true bill returned in the case and filed with the Franklin Circuit Court clerk on Oct. 29 states that the grand jury considered whether Aguiar had been involved in 20 counts of “Making a Payment, Distribution, Loan, Advancement, or Gift of Money to Another to Contribute to a Candidate.”
Such an action is a felony under Kentucky law.
The no true bill states that the vote of grand jurors was “insufficient in number to return an indictment.” It takes the votes of at least nine of 12 grand jurors to return an indictment.
The case was presented to the grand jury by a special prosecutor appointed by Republican Attorney General Russell Coleman — Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders, a Republican.
“I was stunned,” Sanders said of the jury’s decision.
Sanders said he was limited in what he could say about a matter before a grand jury where proceedings are confidential. But both he and Franklin County Commonwealth’s Attorney Larry Cleveland said the case concerns whether Aguiar made excess contributions — in the names of others — to Beshear’s 2019 campaign.
Cleveland told the Lantern that Aguiar admitted to doing so but that he didn’t know his behavior was a crime.
Cleveland, a Democrat, said he recommended that the matter be referred to the Kentucky election registry for a civil investigation which could result in a fine. Cleveland said the penalty for conviction of the criminal law sought by Coleman — a prison term of up to five years per violation plus the likely loss of a lawyer’s license to practice — is excessive in an era when out-of-state billionaires and corporations legally make six- and seven-figure donations to super PACs that influence Kentucky’s elections.
When a grand jury returns a no true bill, a prosecutor has the ability to take the case back to a grand jury and try again for an indictment.
Coleman’s office declined to answer questions about the matter including whether the case would be taken back to a grand jury. It responded to questions with only this statement: “Mr. Aguiar’s case was assigned to Special Prosecutor, Commonwealth Attorney Rob Sanders. Our office does not comment on criminal investigations.”
Aguiar referred questions about the contributions at issue in the case to his attorney, Scott Cox, of Louisville, who did not return phone messages from the Kentucky Lantern.
“The only thing I would say is be careful with what you write,” Aguiar told the Lantern in a phone interview. “I mean, the grand jury just came back with no true bill.”
Regarding the process of the investigation, Aguiar said, “Larry Cleveland looked at it, thought there was no merit, walked it over to campaign finance, and apparently Russell Coleman wasn’t happy with that.”
Aguiar has practiced law in Kentucky for about 16 years and heads the firm called Sam Aguiar Injury Lawyers. But his work goes beyond personal injury cases. He may be best known as the attorney for Breonna Taylor’s family. Taylor, 26, was killed in her apartment in a botched raid by Louisville police in March 2020.
During his first term as governor, Beshear appointed Aguiar to three state boards: the Waterfront Development Corporation of Louisville in 2020, the Murray State University Board of Regents in 2021 and the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission in 2022.
But the Kentucky Senate declined to confirm Aguiar’s appointment to the Murray State board in 2022. Secretary of state records show that Aguiar resigned from the Waterfront Development Board in 2022, and he resigned from the Horse Racing Commission in 2022 within days of being appointed.
Aguiar gave generously to support Beshear politically, including $40,000 to the Kentucky Democratic Party from 2019 to 2021, the propriety of which is not in question. Aguiar also gave the maximum allowed by law to the Beshear campaign for governor in 2019 — $2,000 in the primary election and $2,000 more for the general election, according to the online data base maintained by the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance. Aguiar did not contribute to Beshear’s reelection campaign in 2023.
The Lantern’s examination of the database shows that starting in late 2018 through August of 2019, 17 employees of Aguiar’s firm are listed as making 36 contributions to Beshear’s gubernatorial campaign. Those contributions total $29,944.
Kentucky law prohibits anyone from making a donation to a state candidate in excess of contribution limits. Currently the limit is $2,100 per election, in 2019 it was $2,000. And the law makes it a Class D felony, punishable by up to five years in jail, to knowingly exceed the limit by also giving through other donors.
Cleveland said when he was approached about the case early this summer by representatives of Coleman’s office he felt the penalty under the law was too harsh for the crime. Cleveland said that in the course of the investigation Aguiar admitted that he had made excess contributions in the names of others, but said he did not know that it was illegal.
By contrast, since the 2010 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in the Citizens United case, Cleveland said, “a corporation can legally give unlimited amounts of money” to super PACs that can independently advocate for a candidate — amounts far greater than those involved in the Aguiar investigation.
Cleveland said he believed the matter should be handled as a civil — not criminal — matter with the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance conducting an investigation and potentially imposing a large fine. The registry has the power to impose fines of up to $5,000 per violation.
That sort of approach has been used in some of the rare instances when donors have been investigated for violating this law including in a 2007 case brought by former Attorney General Greg Stumbo against London road contractor Elmo Greer & Sons for making excess contributions to candidates for governor. That case was resolved in a deal by which the company paid a $250,000 fine and a Greer official pleaded guilty to the felony charge, while the conviction was later dismissed under what is known as a “diversion” agreement.
Weddle’s excess giving to Beshear, Kentucky Democratic Party under investigation
The most recent controversy over straw donations, and one involving a huge amount of money, was brought to light by reporting in the Kentucky Lantern last year that found relatives, employees and associates of London Mayor Randall Weddle had given more than $300,000 to Beshear’s 2023 campaign for governor and to the Kentucky Democratic Party.
After the publication of that story, Weddle told Beshear campaign officials that he had made some of these contributions — listed as having been made by others — on his own credit card with the intention that those people would pay him back.
The Beshear campaign and Kentucky Democratic Party quickly refunded $202,000 — the amount they said they got in excess contributions through Weddle’s credit card — to Weddle.
The Kentucky Registry of Election Finance is investigating those donations, Coleman’s office did not respond to questions this week asking if his office is also investigating the Weddle contributions.
Eric Hyers, the manager of both of Beshear’s campaigns for governor and head of Beshear political committees, did not respond to the Lantern’s inquiry about the Aguiar case.
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