Businessman pleads guilty in jail expansion kickback scheme

PADUCAH, Ky. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a business owner has pleaded guilty for his role in a conspiracy that included kickbacks and concealment of costs associated with work performed on the Fulton County Detention Center expansion project.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Kentucky says 79-year-old Michael Homra pleaded guilty Friday to wire fraud.

Prosecutors say Homra's company, The Leader Store, sold building materials to Fulton County for the detention center expansion project in 2015.

According to a plea agreement, Homra allowed then-Fulton County Jailer Ricky Parnell to use The Leader Store as a middleman company for building supplies ordered during the project and paid Parnell cash kickbacks while the project was ongoing.

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