Former Candidate for Breathitt County Magistrate Sentenced for Vote Buying Conspiracy

LEXINGTON — A Breathitt County man was sentenced for buying votes while running for the office of county magistrate in May 2010.

U.S. District Court Judge Karen Caldwell sentenced 48-year-old Michael Salyers yesterday afternoon to two months of incarceration for conspiracy to buy votes. Judge Caldwell also ordered Salyers to spend six months in home detention and perform 120 hours of community service.

Salyers previously admitted he was provided hundreds of dollars that he used to pay people to vote for him. He also provided money to other co-conspirators to buy votes in the election. According to his plea agreement, Salyers met people at a store he owned in the county, arranged a deal, and then sent a conspiracy member with that person to verify that the voters actually voted. Salyers either gave cash to the voter or had a co-conspirator pay the person.

Last month, six others either pleaded guilty or were convicted by a jury for their roles in conspiring to buy votes in the May 2010 preprimary election in Breathitt County.

Kerry B. Harvey, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Perrye Turner, Special Agent in Charge, FBI; Jack Smith, Chief of the Public Integrity Section at the Department of Justice; and Jack Conway, Kentucky Attorney General, jointly announced sentence.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI and the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office. Ken Taylor and Rich Evans represented the United States in this case.