Dysfunctions
Trump's Kentucky Campaign Chair Pleads Guilty to Child Sex Trafficking
By Jake Shepherd, Gritmres, February 10, 2018
Feb 11, 2018 - 9:01:38 AM

One of President Trump’s loudest supporters will likely spend the rest of his life in jail after the conclusion of his child sex trafficking case.

71-year-old Timothy Nolan — a former Campbell County District Judge who was chair of the Trump campaign in Kentucky according to court documents —  entered guilty pleas on all 21 counts against him in court on Friday. A press release issued by the office of Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear listed a multitude of charges, including human trafficking of adults, human trafficking of minors, and unlawful transaction with minors.

Nolan will serve 20 years in jail and pay restitution of $110,000, with a bulk of the fine going toward the Human Trafficking Victims Fund, which the Kentucky General Assembly established in 2013. Nolan will be eligible for parole in 2022, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer. If he had not entered guilty pleas, Nolan would have faced up to 100 years in prison.

The New York Daily News reported that Nolan had a total of 19 victims dating back to 2004. While the victims’ information has not been publicly released, some of them included children below the age of 18. Judge Kathleen Lape said Nolan threatened arrest and eviction to force women and girls to have sex with him. Nolan also apparently paid the women and juveniles with heroin and painkillers, and gave alcohol to a minor on more than one occasion.

In a statement following the pleas, Nolan’s attorney, Margo Grubbs, argued that what Nolan did would have been seen as legally acceptable under the laws of a different day and age.

“[Nolan] took full personal responsibility for these acts that in his potential day and generation would not necessarily be considered to rise to the level of human trafficking,” Grubbs said.

Some of Nolan’s pleas were Alford v. North Carolina pleas, meaning that the plea was given to avoid trial due to overwhelming evidence, but that Nolan still maintains his innocence.