Former Emergency Manager Sentenced

Brian Reams, a former emergency manager in Laurel County, was sentenced Wednesday to 18 months in prison and ordered to pay $241,000 in restitution after he fraudulently steered a federal contract to a woman he was dating in 2006 and later married. Melody Vess Reams, also pleaded guilty. She received three years' probation and was ordered to repay the government $215,134. The fraud involved federal money that several Kentucky counties received to prepare for a potential leak from the chemical-weapons storage site in Madison County. Brian Reams rigged the bid process to help his girlfriend's company, which then supplied equipment such as trailers and generators that were not as good as the contract specified, according to court documents.