Operation Boptrot, also referred to as Boptrot, was an investigation by the

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(FBI) into

corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...

among the

Kentucky General Assembly The Kentucky General Assembly, also called the Kentucky Legislature, is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kentucky. It comprises the Kentucky Senate and the Kentucky House of Representatives. The General Assembly meets annually in th ...

, the

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legislature A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the legal authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with the executive and judicial power ...

. The operation was highly successful, with the investigation culminating in several indictments in 1992, leading to the conviction of more than a dozen legislators between 1992 and 1995. The investigation also led to reform legislation being passed in 1993.

Operation

The sting, dubbed Operation Boptrot, involved legislators who accepted bribes and other illegal inducements to support horse-racing legislation in Kentucky. The FBI's original targets were the Business, Organization, and Professions Committees (the "BOP" in Boptrot) in the

Kentucky House of Representatives The Kentucky House of Representatives is the lower house of the Kentucky General Assembly. It is composed of 100 Representatives elected from single-member districts throughout the Commonwealth. Not more than two counties can be joined to form a ...

and the

Kentucky Senate The Kentucky Senate is the upper house of the Kentucky General Assembly. The Kentucky Senate is composed of 38 members elected from single-member districts throughout Kentucky, the Commonwealth. There are no term limits for Kentucky senators. T ...

. Those two committees oversaw state laws regulating

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

(the "trot"). The exposé was especially notable for revealing how cheaply the legislators were willing to sell their votes.

Convictions

Legislators convicted as a result of Operation Boptrot included: #Senator

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(D) pleaded guilty to

conspiracy A conspiracy, also known as a plot, ploy, or scheme, is a secret plan or agreement between people (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder, treason, or corruption, especially with a political motivat ...

and other charges. #Representative Clay Crupper (D) pleaded guilty to charges of interstate travel in aid of racketeering and resigned. He was fined $10,000 in 1992. #Representative Ronny Layman (R) was indicted in 1992 on charges of conspiracy to commit extortion and

making false statements Making false statements () is the common name for the United States federal process crime laid out in Section 1001 of Title 18 of the United States Code, which generally prohibits knowingly and willfully making false or fraudulent statements, or ...

to the FBI. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three months of home detention and community service. #Representative Jerry Bronger (D) was indicted in 1992 and later pleaded guilty to charges that he accepted $2,000 in exchange for blocking legislation that would hurt harness racing. He was sentenced to 10 months in prison. #Senator Helen Garrett (D) was charged in 1992 with taking a $2,000 bribe from a track in exchange for helping pass legislation. She pleaded guilty and received four years' probation. #Representative Tom O'Dell Smith (R) was convicted in Operation Crabgrass, an offshoot of BOPTROT. #

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Don Blandford (D) was convicted after a trial on charges of extortion, racketeering and lying. He was sentenced to 64 months in prison and was fined $10,000. #Senator David LeMaster (D) was indicted in 1993, and acquitted of

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit (e.g., money or goods) through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, although making unfounded ...

and

racketeering Racketeering is a type of organized crime in which the perpetrators set up a coercion, coercive, fraud, fraudulent, extortionary, or otherwise illegal coordinated scheme or operation (a "racket") to repeatedly or consistently collect a profit. ...

, but convicted of lying. He was sentenced to a year in prison and fined $30,000, but served just one day after resigning from the legislature. #Representative Richard Turner (R) pleaded guilty to a 1993 charge that he filed a false campaign finance report. #Senator Art Schmidt (R) pleaded guilty to a 1993 indictment for withholding the fact that he took a cash payment from another senator tied to Operation BopTrot. He was sentenced to probation and fined $2,500. #Senator Virgil Pearman (D) pleaded guilty after 1993 indictment charging that he took an illegal $3,000 campaign contribution. He was sentenced to three months in a

halfway house A halfway house is a type of prison or institute intended to teach (or reteach) the necessary skills for people to re-integrate into society and better support and care for themselves. Halfway houses are typically either state sponsored for those ...

, probation and was fined $5,000. #Representative Bill Strong (R) pleaded guilty after 1993 indictment charges that he took an illegal $3,000 campaign contribution and did not deposit the money into his campaign fund. He was sentenced to three months in a halfway house, probation and was fined $3,000. #Senator Patti Weaver (D) pleaded guilty after 1993 indictment charging that she was promised help finding a job in exchange for support of legislation. She was sentenced to weekend incarceration, probation and

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community contributing to a noble cause. In many cases, people doing community service are compensated in other ways, such as gettin ...

and was fined $10,000. #Senator Landon Sexton (R) pleaded guilty after 1994 indictment charging that he took an illegal $5,000 cash campaign contribution. He was sentenced to 15 consecutive weekends in jail, home detention for two months and probation for two years. In addition he was fined $5,000. #Senator John D. Rogers (R), then the Minority Leader in the Kentucky Senate, was sentenced in 1994 to 42 months in prison after conviction on charges of extortion, conspiracy, attempted extortion,

mail fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical (e.g., the U.S. Postal Service) or electronic (e.g., a phone, a telegram, a fax, or the Internet) mail system to defraud another, and are U.S. fede ...

and lying to the FBI. Others convicted as a result of Operation Boptrot included: #Lobbyist John W. "Jay" Spurrier, the "dean of the Frankfort lobbyist corps" #Former representative Bill McBee (D) of Boone County, was sentenced to a 15-month prison term for bribery and corruption. #Bruce Wilkinson, the nephew of then-Governor Wallace Wilkinson (D), who was serving as the governor's appointments secretary, was convicted of conspiracy to commit extortion and sentenced to three years' imprisonment and fined of $20,000, the amount of a bribe he was convicted of taking. Governor Wilkinson was investigated, but not charged. #Buel Guy (D) aide to Don Blandford and former legislator pled guilty to lying to the FBI.Al Cross and Tom Loftus, ''Lies, bribes and videotape'', National Conference of State Legislators, 1993
/ref> #Jockeys' Guild Inc. #

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#Bradley Shannon

References

;Sources * * * * * * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Boptrot, Operation