Update
Ex-prosecutor Ronnie Goldy was found guilty on all counts. He will be sentenced on May 24. He will be allowed to remain out of custody until sentencing.
The federal prosecutor said he will pursue an enhancement for obstruction of justice based on Goldy’s testimony at trial.
The jury took about six and a half hours to reach a verdict.
Original Story
After closing arguments Friday morning, jurors were sent to begin deliberations in the federal fraud and bribery trial of former prosecutor Ronnie Goldy.
Goldy is facing six counts of honest service wire fraud, six counts of violating the "Travel Act," and two counts of federal program bribery.
He is accused of doing legal favors for a criminal defendant named Misty Helton in exchange for nude photos and videos of her. The allegations came to light after another attorney released hundreds of screenshots of alleged Facebook messages between Helton and Goldy.
Goldy's attorney, Michael Curtis, told jurors during his closing argument that the entire case hinged on Helton's testimony at trial and that as a repeated criminal defendant, her credibility was in question.
When given a chance to respond to Curtis' arguments, federal prosecutor Andy Boone said jurors did not need to rely only on Helton's testimony because the hundreds of verified Facebook messages between the two backed up everything she said.
During his initial closing arguments, Boone walked jurors through some of the hundreds of pages of messages at issue in the case. He highlighted the ones he said showed that Goldy solicited a video from Helton.
Curtis and Goldy have said that the only video Goldy wanted from Helton was one she said she had of another person involved in illegal activity.
Boone told jurors that they could use common sense to deduce what kind of video was asking for based on the tone of the messages, including one request for a video that immediately followed Helton sending nude photos of herself.
Curtis argues that the whole situation was political, pointing to the fact that the screenshots messages between Goldy and Helton were first released by an attorney representing Beth Maze. Maze is a former circuit court judge in Goldy's circuit who was accused of interfering when her ex-husband was charged with drug offenses. Goldy's attorney argued that the video of criminal activity Goldy was trying to get from Helton allegedly involved Maze's ex-husband.
Boone argued that no matter what the video showed, the messages showed Goldy soliciting something in exchange for court favors.
Judge Danny Reeves lined out the jury instructions before closing arguments Friday morning, defining the parameters to be met for the jury to find Goldy guilty.
Boone told the jury there was more than enough evidence to return guilty verdicts on all counts.
Curtis disagreed, saying his client was innocent of the charges and that the government failed to meet their burden of proof.
Curtis thanked the jurors for "sitting through this whole sorry tragedy."
Boone said that this instance is a tragedy, and they both agree.
He went on to say that Goldy met Helton when she was 21 years old and a criminal defendant and that he was in a position to hold her accountable for her actions. Instead, Boone argued that he repeatedly enabled her behavior, which escalated over time.
"If Goldy did what he was supposed to do would Misty Helton have turned out differently?" Boone asked the jury. "We will never know."
