Case 2:18-cr-00152 Document 1 Filed 07/31/18 Page 1 of 3 PagelD 1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE LE 
SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF WEST VIRGINIA
CHARLESTON 3 I 2018
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ?isigni??t I
v. CRIMINALNO. 2518 ~oa/52?

 

18 U.S.C. 1343

MENIS E. KETCHUM II

INFORMATION

The United States Attorney Charges:

1. Defendant MENIS E. KETCHUM 11 was a Justice on the Supreme Court of Appeals
of West Virginia (?Supreme Court?) from January 1, 2008, through late July 27, 2018. He served
as the Supreme Court?s Chief Justice twice, in 2012 and 2016.

2. In January 2012, defendant MENIS E. KETCHUM began using a State-owned
vehicle, a 2007 Buick Lucerne, for the purposes of commuting back and forth from his Huntington,
West Virginia residence to his chambers at the State Capitol in Charleston, West Virginia. His use
of the Buick Lucerne was supposed to be limited to exclusively business?related purposes and not
for personal travel. In addition to the use of the Buick Lucerne for commuting purposes, defendant
MENIS E. KETCHUM II also charged to the State of West Virginia the fuel costs associated with
his commuting by using a State?issued fuel credit card, a credit card issued by Wright Express,

Inc. Bank?).

Case 2:18-cr-00152 Document 1 Filed 07/31/18 Page 2 of 3 PagelD 2

3. Between in or about August 6, 2014, and August 9, 2014, defendant MENIS E.
KETCHUM II traveled from his Huntington, West Virginia home to a private golf club in western
Virginia, driving the State-owned Buick Lucerne and charging the fuel costs of this trip to the
State-issued fuel credit card. The round-trip mileage for this travel was nearly 400 miles.
Defendant MENIS E. KETCHUM 11 knew that he was not authorized to use the Buick Lucerne
nor was he authorized to charge his fuel costs to the State of West Virginia because this travel was
entirely for personal and recreational reasons.

4. The fraudulent conduct by defendant MENIS E. KETCHUM Il consisted of a
scheme to defraud the State of West Virginia in order to obtain money and property through false
and fraudulent pretenses and representations, that is, through his unauthorized personal use of a
State-owned Buick Lucerne and the State-fuel card during his travel to and from West Virginia
and the western Virginia golf club in 2011 through 2014.

5. More particularly, on or about August 6, 2014, defendant MENIS E. KETCHUM II
purchased fuel near his home in Huntington, West Virginia, for the Buick Lucerne using the State
fuel credit card. Thereafter, he drove the Buick from Huntington, West Virginia to the western
Virginia golf club, where he golfed for three days. On his return trip home, defendant KETCHUM
again charged his fuel costs to the State fuel credit card at a gas station in Princeton, West Virginia.
The total value of defendant use of the Buick Lucerne for this particular golf outing
was $220.80. Defendant KETCHUM drove the Buick Lucerne to the western Virginia golf club
and charged his fuel costs to the State of West Virginia on at least seven other occasions.

6. On or about August 9, 2014, at or near, Princeton, Mercer County, West Virginia,
within the Southern District of West Virginia and elsewhere, defendant MENIS E. KETCHUM H,

having devised and intending to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud and for obtaining money

Case 2:18-cr-00152 Document 1 Filed 07/31/18 Page 3 of 3 PagelD 3

by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises, transmitted
and caused to be transmitted by means of wire communication in interstate commerce, certain
writings, signs, signals, and pictures for the purpose of executing the scheme, that is, defendant
KETCHUM used a State of West Virginia fuel credit card to purchase fuel at a gasoline station in
Princeton, West Virginia for the Buick Lucerne While returning home from his golf outing in
western Virginia and thereby caused to be transmitted in interstate commerce a wire
communication from an electronic credit card reader at a BP gas station located at 1000 Oakvale
Road, Princeton, West Virginia to electronic databases in WEX of?ces in Aurora,
Colorado.
In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

MICHAEL B. STUART
United States At rney

By:

 

 

Assistant nited States Attorney