CHARLESTON – Former state Supreme Court Justice Allen Loughry’s Charleston home is for sale.
Loughry, who was sentenced last month to 24 months in federal prison, and his family listed the home March 1 for $150,000.
“This functional 3 bedroom, 2.5 bath home is enveloped in light, open one story,” the description on Zillow says. “Hardwoods under carpet, large basement, 2 fireplaces, flat fenced front yard, large extensive back deck, heated one car garage.”
Loughry
The Scenic Drive home is located off Greenbrier Street between the state Capitol and Yeager Airport. It is 1,840 square feet and was built in 1949. The listing says Loughry purchased the home in 2004 for $143,450.
In October, Loughry was found guilty on 11 federal charges of wire fraud, mail fraud, making false statements to federal agents and witness tampering. The witness tampering conviction later was dropped.
He was sentenced last month to 24 months in prison, and he was ordered to pay fines and restitution in the amount of $11,273. He also will serve three years of supervised probation. He is supposed to self-report to prison by April 5, but he filed a motion to appeal last week.
At his sentencing, Loughry requested to be imprisoned at a federal facility as close as possible to Berkeley Springs, which is where his wife Kelly is from.
Also last month, the state Judicial Hearing Board recommended the state Supreme Court follow an agreement signed by Loughry and the state Judicial Disciplinary Counsel. The agreement said Loughry would be disbarred and never seek public office in West Virginia again. Also, the JDC recommended censure, a $3,000 fine and payment of $5,871.12 for the cost of proceeding.
As part of that agreement, Loughry also did not admit guilt to any of the findings by the state panel. But, the agreement states that Loughry admitted there was enough evidence to prove the allegations of two charges of lying to the public, one charge of using a state computer at his home for personal use, four charges of using a state vehicle for personal travel (including trips to The Greenbrier to sell copies of his book “Don’t Buy Another Vote, I Won’t Pay For A Landslide: The Sordid and Continuing History of Political Corruption in West Virginia”) and one charge of being convicted on 10 federal felony counts in October.
In addition to the federal charges, the state Judicial Investigation Commission charges also focused on Loughry’s violations of the Code of Judicial Conduct by making “false statements with the deliberate attempt to deceive, engaged in sophism and gave disinformation with the intent to harm another person.”
The JIC says Loughry denied that he had anything to do with renovations to his state Capitol office that included a $32,000 couch, $1,700 for throw pillows and a $7,500 wooden inlaid medallion in his office floor. The JIC also says Loughry violated the Code of Judicial Conduct “when he kept secret from other justices” a December 2017 federal subpoena served on the court.
Loughry “personally selected the couch,” the JIC statement of charges says. “He also selected the blue suede fabric covering for the couch and the fabric covering the throw pillows.”
Loughry was removed as Chief Justice last February, and he was suspended in June shortly after the federal criminal charges were announced. He resigned in November after his conviction. Loughry and three other then-Justices were impeached in August. Only current Chief Justice Beth Walker faced an impeachment trial. She was cleared in October. The impeachment efforts then were found to be a violation of the separation of powers doctrine.
On Twitter, an account called “Reading From The Book Of Loughry” posted the Zillow listing with a comment saying, “Look, no skeletons in these closets. Cass Gilbert desk not.” The first part of that comment references one of Loughry’s first campaign ads in his 2012 Supreme Court race. The second refers to one of several antique state Supreme Court-owned desks Loughry had at his house before returning it in late 2017.
