Billboard in Louisville advertises Sam Aguiar’s law firm. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Deborah Yetter)
FRANKFORT — A Franklin County grand jury last week declined to indict prominent Louisville attorney Sam Aguiar in an investigation into whether Aguiar made excessive campaign contributions in the names of straw donors to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear’s 2019 campaign for governor.
The no true bill returned in the case and filed with the Franklin Circuit Court clerk on Oct. 29 states that the grand jury considered whether Aguiar had been involved in 20 counts of “Making a Payment, Distribution, Loan, Advancement, or Gift of Money to Another to Contribute to a Candidate.”
Such an action is a felony under Kentucky law.
The no true bill states that the vote of grand jurors was “insufficient in number to return an indictment.” It takes the votes of at least nine of 12 grand jurors to return an indictment.
The case was presented to the grand jury by a special prosecutor appointed by Republican Attorney General Russell Coleman — Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders, a Republican.