Kentucky Gov. Ernie Fletcher’s deputy chief of staff and two other administration officials were indicted Wednesday on charges alleging they illegally filled rank-and-file state jobs based on politics, not qualifications, reports the Louisville Courier-Journal. The cases marked the second time the Franklin County special grand jury has returned indictments since it was impaneled June 6 to investigate allegations of illegal hiring in the Transportation Cabinet.
In a statement, Fletcher’s office called the indictments “a travesty of justice.” Indicted were Dick Murgatroyd, former deputy transportation secretary and now Fletcher’s deputy chief of staff, on 19 misdemeanor counts, most for “political discrimination”; Cory Meadows, former deputy director of Fletcher’s Local Initiatives for a New Kentucky office and now an executive director in the Transportation Cabinet, on six misdemeanor counts; and Dan Druen, transportation’s administrative services commissioner, on 10 misdemeanor counts.
Link: http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050707/NEWS0104/507070419