Joe C. Ferrell
Democrat Joe C. Ferrell was charged in a 48-count indictment in U.S. District Court in Huntington with racketeering, mail fraud, bribery, obstruction of justice, failing to register gambling devices, failure to pay employment taxes and Social Security fraud.
Ferrell, 62, of Chapmanville, operates a video lottery machine leasing business, Southern Amusement Co. of Logan.
The indictment accused the former Logan County delegate of seeking his legislative position to protect the business by influencing legislation concerning video lottery machines, voting on bills depending on their impact on the profitability of the business.
It said Ferrell allegedly traveled to South Williamson, Ky., to bring the more than $31,000 in proceeds from an illegal gambling business to West Virginia between 2005 and 2008. It also alleged that he bribed a West Virginia Lottery inspector, Logan’s mayor and a Logan County sheriff-elect and allegedly paid voters to back his candidacy.
The indictment seeks the forfeiture of at least $5 million in cash, property and video lottery machines.
Efforts to reach Ferrell at his home and office were unsuccessful Monday.
Ferrell had served three terms in the Legislature when he pleaded guilty in 1992 to illegal campaign spending. He had promised not to seek office again as part of his agreement with prosecutors. That proved non-binding because he had been convicted of only a misdemeanor, and he ran again in 1998 and won.
During another four-term stint as a delegate, the FBI raided Southern Amusement in June 2005. Later that year, federal prosecutors named him a ‘‘cooperating witness’’ in a vote-buying conspiracy case that successfully targeted then-Sheriff John Mendez and other Democratic officials on election fraud charges.
Ferrell missed every legislative meeting the following year, including the 60-day regular session. He blamed his absence on a back problem, and did not seek re-election. The indictment said Ferrell paid cash bribes to the Logan mayor over a seven-year period beginning in March 1995. Tom Esposito served as Logan’s mayor from 1987 to 2003. In 2005 Esposito pleaded guilty in federal court in an unrelated case to paying off a county magistrate to keep quiet about a kickback scheme. Esposito became a secret operative and witness for federal investigators in the election fraud probe that ensnared Mendez.
The question that I want to ask is who did he (Ferrell) bribe to keep his amusement company going? Who was on his payroll and what will be done to them now that everyone knows that criminal acts were committed. There is an old saying that goes "There is no honor amongst thieves"......It seems like the same thing is going for politicians.
Esposito, you are, and always were a joke! Who else were you involved with in abusing your position??? Inquiring minds want to know!