Richie Farmer served as the Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture from 2004 to 2012 and was the running mate of David L Williams in the 2011 gubernatorial election.
102 Facts About Richie Farmer
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Richie Farmer parlayed his status as a basketball icon into two terms as Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner from 2004 to 2012, winning both elections by large margins.
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Attorney General Jack Conway charged Richie Farmer with violating state campaign finance laws, and a federal grand jury followed with five indictments for abuses of power.
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Richie Farmer initially contested the charges, but later agreed to a plea bargain.
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On January 14,2014, Richie Farmer was sentenced to 27 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $120,500 in restitution and $65,000 in fines.
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Richie Farmer served almost 20 months in a satellite camp of the United States Penitentiary, Hazelton near Bruceton Mills, West Virginia, before transitioning to a halfway house in Lexington, Kentucky, on December 18,2015.
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Richie Farmer was released from the halfway house on January 21,2016 and is currently residing in Clay County.
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Richie Farmer was the second of three children born to Richard and Virginia Farmer.
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Richie Farmer credited his father, a transportation manager at a local coal mine and a standout point guard at Clay County High School in 1963, with developing his basketball acumen.
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Richie Farmer played football on a team that won the county championship that year.
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Richie Farmer led the Tigers in scoring in each of their three games en route to the 13th Region Kentucky High School Athletic Association basketball championship.
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Richie Farmer was the tournament's second-highest scorer with 69 points, one behind Hopkinsville's Lamont Ware, and finished second in the voting for the tournament's Most Valuable Player, which went to Hopkinsville's Wendell Quarles.
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Richie Farmer had scored 30 points in Clay County's regular season matchup with Pulaski County, but his team lost by one point in overtime.
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Richie Farmer scored Clay County's last 9 points in regulation, including consecutive go-ahead baskets at 3:19,2:46, and 0:30.
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Richie Farmer played all 35 minutes of the game and led all scorers with 27 points to go with 6 rebounds and 4 assists.
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Richie Farmer was named to the all-tournament team, selected the tournament's Most Valuable Player, and given the Ted Sanford Award for citizenship, basketball ability, academic achievement, and sportsmanship.
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Richie Farmer was the only underclassman named to the Lexington Herald-Leader's 1987 All-State First Team.
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In July 1987, the Kentucky Junior All-Stars finished second to a team from South Carolina in the Kentucky Prep All-Star Festival at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington; Richie Farmer sat out the championship game with a hand injury he suffered in the previous game.
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Richie Farmer was selected to the all-tournament team and named tournament MVP.
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Richie Farmer scored 38 points on 14 of 24 shooting in a victory over Rowan County High School in the tournament's opening round.
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Four minutes into the Tigers' quarterfinal matchup against LaRue County High School, Richie Farmer scored a three-point basket that tied Wallace "Wah Wah" Jones' record for most points scored by a single player in the KHSAA state tournament.
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Richie Farmer was selected to the all-tournament team, received a Dawahares' Sweet Sixteen Academic Scholarship Award, and was voted the tournament's MVP.
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Richie Farmer posted a total of 2,793 points in his high school career.
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Richie Farmer was named Kentucky Mr Basketball, Kentucky Associated Press Male High School Athlete of the Year, and was the leading vote-getter for the Kentucky All-State Team, appearing on 160 of 167 ballots.
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In May 1988, Richie Farmer was selected to an AAU all-star team that played an exhibition game in Memorial Coliseum against an all-star team from the Soviet Union.
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On March 21,1988, Richie Farmer told a Lexington television station that he would no longer consider Kentucky if they did not offer him a scholarship by the weekend.
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The paper reported that Richie Farmer had narrowed his list of potential college choices to three: Western Kentucky, LSU, and Kentucky.
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Richie Farmer took an official visit to Western Kentucky the weekend of April 9,1988, but on April 14, the second day of the April signing period, he held a press conference at his high school gymnasium to announce that he had signed a National Letter of Intent with Kentucky.
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The Lexington Herald-Leader's Jerry Tipton later reported that Richie Farmer had to leave practice half an hour early two days a week to attend his American History class.
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Banks maintained that Richie Farmer had tugged Banks toward him and fallen down, attempting to draw the call, but Richie Farmer and Sutton both denied the alleged chicanery.
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Richie Farmer followed up with a 15-point performance in a win against Western Carolina.
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Questions about Richie Farmer's playing time continued into Southeastern Conference play, even as Richie Farmer's scoring dropped off.
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Lexington Herald-Leader columnist Billy Reed wrote: "Richie Farmer simply isn't ready to play at this level yet".
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The youngest person and first high school athlete ever to win the award, Richie Farmer finished ahead of former Kentucky guard Pat Riley, who had just coached the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers to a second consecutive championship.
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At the team's annual postseason awards banquet, Richie Farmer received the free throw award.
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The Lexington Herald-Leader noted that Richie Farmer lost 12 pounds in the off-season, reducing his weight to 168 pounds, and Pitino praised his improved speed and endurance.
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Richie Farmer led the White team in scoring with 26 points, including 5-of-13 shooting from three-point range.
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Richie Farmer, who had no assists and 4 turnovers in nine minutes during the first half, responded with 7 assists and only one turnover in the second half.
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Pitino said practice performance would determine whether Woods or Richie Farmer would start the Wildcats' next game against Mississippi State, and he ultimately decided to return Woods to the starting rotation.
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Richie Farmer entered the game after Sean Woods fouled out with 1:54 left, and with Kentucky leading by two with just over a minute left, LSU coach Dale Brown instructed his team to foul Richie Farmer on each Kentucky possession to conserve the game clock and regain possession of the ball.
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In September 1990, Richie Farmer had a disagreement with strength coach Rock Oliver, returned home to Manchester, and considered leaving the Kentucky basketball team.
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Pitino, who was away from campus on a recruiting visit, called Richie Farmer and scheduled a meeting with him for the following weekend, after which Richie Farmer decided to return to the team.
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The day of the game, he announced Richie Farmer would make the second start of his career at shooting guard alongside Woods at point.
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Richie Farmer suffered a black eye during the game, which was notable for its physicality.
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Messenger-Inquirer sportswriter Jake Jennings noted that Richie Farmer relied on drives to the basket to score, as opposed to his usual penchant for shooting three-point shots.
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Richie Farmer returned to score a team-high 21 points, but suffered a scratched eye, in a win that gave Kentucky the best record in the SEC; Woods logged 9 points and 7 assists in almost 24 minutes of action off the bench.
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Woods returned to the starting lineup in Kentucky's next game at Vanderbilt, but Richie Farmer remained a starter as well, replacing Jeff Brassow at shooting guard.
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Pitino characterized Richie Farmer as "exhausted" in the second half, playing heavy minutes in relief of Woods, who managed only 15 minutes before fouling out.
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At the team's postseason awards banquet, Richie Farmer received the Free Throw Award for the third straight year and was named the team's Most Improved Player.
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Shortly after the team's first practice in October 1991, Pitino again commented on Richie Farmer's improved conditioning, calling it his "biggest surprise" of the early practices.
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Richie Farmer was projected to compete with junior college transfer Dale Brown for the starting shooting guard spot.
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Richie Farmer had 18 points, including 4 of 6 made three-point baskets.
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Richie Farmer believed starting Woods and bringing Brown off the bench would allow him to have one of his two best defenders on the floor more often; he believed Farmer's height would not be a liability against Ole Miss' smaller starting guards.
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Richie Farmer continued to start for the Wildcats for the rest of the regular season, culminating in a Senior day win against Tennessee, when he scored 11 of Kentucky's first 16 points and saw extended minutes after fellow senior Sean Woods was ejected for fighting with the Volunteers' Jay Price.
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Richie Farmer, who finished with 14 points, hit four consecutive free throws in the final minute of the game.
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The game, which ended Richie Farmer's playing career, is widely regarded as one of the greatest college basketball games of all time.
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Richie Farmer participated in several book signings across the state, as well as filming television advertisements for local products and conducting speaking engagements for dental insurance provider Delta Dental to promote good oral health in his native eastern Kentucky.
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Richie Farmer was inducted into the KHSAA Hall of Fame in 1998 and the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002.
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Richie Farmer was one of 88 inaugural members of the University of Kentucky Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005 and one of 16 inaugural members of the Kentucky High School Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.
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On January 28,2003, Richie Farmer announced he would seek the Republican nomination for Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner.
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Richie Farmer waited until three weeks before the primary election to begin seriously campaigning and focused on population centers such as Lexington, Louisville, Bowling Green, and the Northern Kentucky area, where Republican voters were more concentrated.
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At that time, campaign finance reports showed that Richie Farmer had spent about half of the $36,055 raised for his campaign, while his opponent, Leonard "Buck" Beasley, had raised only $450 and spent nothing.
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Baesler charged that Richie Farmer was unqualified for the job of agriculture commissioner and that his high poll numbers and convincing primary victory were driven by his popularity as a basketball player, criticizing him for featuring his status as a member of "The Unforgettables" in his campaign literature.
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Richie Farmer responded that his college degree qualified him to be agriculture commissioner and said his need to continue his day job to support his family often kept him away from the campaign trail where he could expound more on his ideas for running the Department of Agriculture.
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Richie Farmer overcame the bad press to take the election by a vote of 575,049 to 466,321.
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Richie Farmer sought to prevent an outbreak of vesicular stomatitis virus in the state's horses and cattle by banning the import of animals from 20 western counties where the virus was known to have infected animals.
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Richie Farmer denied any involvement in the hiring decisions beyond submitting recommendations for both candidates.
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Richie Farmer countered his absences by outspending his opponent 35-to-1, investing a reported $102,000 in his campaign.
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Name recognition played a role in both parties' primaries: Farmer enjoyed high name recognition from his days as a basketball player, while the Democratic nominee, David Lynn Williams, had a name similar to that of Kentucky Senate President David L Williams.
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Richie Farmer's trial was not scheduled until after the election.
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On election day, Richie Farmer set a record for the most votes received in an election for a constitutional office in Kentucky, garnering 641,789 to Williams' 363,188.
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Richie Farmer asked US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack for declarations of agricultural disasters in the wake of an ice storm in January 2009 that endangered the state's livestock and flooding that affected Kentucky Lake in 2010, damaging large portions of the state's corn, soybean, and wheat crops.
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Richie Farmer was limited to two terms by the Kentucky Constitution, and in October 2009, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported that he was "in discussions" about running for governor in the 2011 election.
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The Lexington Herald-Leader speculated that Richie Farmer could run for governor, secretary of state, or lieutenant governor on a ticket with Senate President David Williams.
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On September 1,2010, Williams and Richie Farmer announced that they would run as a ticket for governor and lieutenant governor, respectively.
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Shortly after the announcement, Richie Farmer began to face criticism for his use of state funds during difficult economic times that resulted in austerity measures in most state government agencies.
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Every constitutional officer in the state donated a day's salary to the state treasury or to a charity on each of the mandatory furlough days, but Richie Farmer refused, saying he opposed the entire concept of furlough days for government workers.
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Richie Farmer was criticized for his management of the agriculture department's vehicle fleet.
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Late in his first term, Richie Farmer had removed the vehicles used by the Agriculture Department from the state fleet, opting to have department officials manage them separately.
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The divorce proceedings were put on hold by mutual consent on May 26,2011, but in a July 12 hearing, Richie Farmer's wife asked that the judge schedule a trial date; the judge ordered mediation within 30 days instead.
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Democrats demanded that Richie Farmer reimburse the state for hotel expenses charged to the state while Richie Farmer was conducting outreach activities at the KHSAA state basketball tournament and the Kentucky State Fair, both located fewer than 60 miles from his home.
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Days later, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported that Richie Farmer had placed his girlfriend in a non-merit agriculture department job on October 31,2011.
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Richie Farmer defended the hiring, saying his girlfriend was qualified for the job, which involved administrative and clerical tasks, and that his legal team had assured him that he had followed all appropriate hiring regulations.
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Five days after Richie Farmer left office, Comer announced that he had requested a full audit of the department by newly elected Democratic State Auditor Adam Edelen.
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Under terms of his pending divorce, Richie Farmer was solely responsible for the mortgage on the house.
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The divorce was finalized in July, and on September 24,2012, the house was sold at auction after Richie Farmer was not successful in selling it himself.
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Richie Farmer, who had not been employed since leaving office in January 2012, told the court that the investigation into his tenure as agriculture commissioner had made it difficult to find employment.
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The judge found that Richie Farmer was "voluntarily underemployed", although he suspended the child support payments for the months of September and October 2012 in light of Richie Farmer's recovery from an August 30 hip replacement surgery.
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On November 9,2012, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported that Richie Farmer had found employment at a car dealership in Manchester.
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Richie Farmer said that Farmer had kept some of the gifts ordered in conjunction with the 2008 Southern Association of State Departments of Agriculture conference for his own use and allowed his family to stay in hotel rooms reserved for agriculture department employees at the Kentucky State Fair.
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The indictment did not specify what bribe was sought in exchange for a grant to conduct an all-terrain vehicle safety class, but the charges from the state Ethics Commission mentioned that Richie Farmer had received three all-terrain vehicles in exchange for awarding unspecified state grants.
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Richie Farmer pled not guilty to all five federal charges on April 25,2013.
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Wier ordered the recently unemployed Richie Farmer to seek employment, surrender his passport, and remain within the state until the trial.
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Richie Farmer would have faced maximum penalties of $250,000 and 10 years in prison for each federal charge against him.
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Additionally, Richie Farmer pleaded guilty to one state charge of violating campaign finance laws in exchange for a sentence of no more than one year, served concurrently with his federal sentence.
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Finally, Richie Farmer acknowledged to the Executive Branch Ethics Commission 35 of the 42 violations he had been charged with, resulting in $65,000 in fines, the most ever levied by the commission.
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Richie Farmer's attorney indicated that US Attorney Kerry Harvey and Kentucky Attorney General Jack Conway had been pursuing additional indictments against Richie Farmer when the plea bargain was reached.
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Richie Farmer recommended that the sentence be served at the Federal Correctional Institution in Manchester, Farmer's hometown, but the Federal Bureau of Prisons opted to assign him to the United States Penitentiary, Hazelton near Bruceton Mills, West Virginia.
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On March 25,2014, Richie Farmer reported to the satellite camp of the Hazelton prison to begin serving his sentence.
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Richie Farmer was imprisoned for almost 20 months, transitioned to a halfway house in Lexington on December 18,2015, and was released on January 21,2016.
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Richie Farmer was reportedly renting a home in Clay County from his parents and driving a car they owned.
102.
On March 22,2018, Richie Farmer was arrested in Laurel County, Kentucky, for driving under the influence.