LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - Former state agriculture commissioner and University of Kentucky basketball star Richie Farmer, who went to prison for violating state ethics and campaign finance laws, has filed for bankruptcy.
Farmer filed a Chapter 7 petition on May 4 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky.
The Lexington Herald-Leader (https://bit.ly/272OshS) reports Farmer indicated he is unemployed and living on $194 in monthly food stamps. The petition also noted that his parents give him an estimated $400 each month.
The petition listed assets of about $24,000, most of it in his state pension. Other listed assets were $200 cash, $500 worth of furniture and $100 in clothes.
Farmer said he had liabilities of about $386,000.
The petition listed a debt on a home in Frankfort of nearly $208,000, the difference between what he owed and what it was purchased for at a foreclosure sale. Farmer also listed a liability of $120,000, which was the restitution as part of a plea agreement in his criminal case.
A $2,000 payment for attorney and bankruptcy filing fees was made by his parents last month. Farmer said he rents a home from his parents in Clay County and drives a 2007 car that they own. The filing listed no rental expenses.
Farmer left a federal prison in West Virginia in December after serving a 27-month sentence for misappropriating government resources while in office, including having state workers build a basketball court for him at his house.
Farmer was a member of the 1991-92 Kentucky basketball team nicknamed “The Unforgettables.”
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Information from: Lexington Herald-Leader, https://www.kentucky.com
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