Pike County Man Sentenced on Election Fraud

FRANKFORT, Ky. –  Attorney General Andy Beshear announced that a Pike County man pleaded guilty in Franklin Circuit Court today to four counts of attempting to intimidate an election officer, and one count of attempting to interfere with an election.

Keith Justice, 51, of Pikeville, under terms of the plea agreement with Beshear’s Office of Special Prosecutions, was sentenced to 30 days home incarceration, ordered to pay a $500 fine and to surrender his private investigator’s license for a year.

The charges are in connection with the May 2016 statewide Primary Election.

The case was investigated by the Attorney General’s Department of Criminal Investigations following a complaint received from the Pike County Clerk’s office on the evening of the May 17 election.

After interviewing four election officers from the Phelps precinct, Beshear’s investigators learned that Justice, at the time a licensed private investigator, came into the precinct and showed a badge, stating he was investigating election fraud.

Beshear said Justice then directed the workers to give written and audio recorded statements before collecting a copy of the precinct sheriff’s report, none of which the precinct workers said they would have done had they known he was not a law enforcement officer.

A Pike County grand jury indicted Justice in June 2016.