University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino asked a federal judge to show mercy when sentencing former Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer and allow him to “become a productive citizen again” after the basketball star’s political and personal fall from grace.
Pitino’s letter is among 29 pieces of correspondence sent to U.S. District Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove in the weeks leading up to Farmer’s sentencing in January for abusing public office. The judge sentenced Farmer to 27 months in federal prison. He is serving the sentence at a prison in Bruceton Mills, W.Va.
Van Tatenhove unsealed the letters Thursday evening.
Many of the letters were from family and long-time friends, including former Kentucky basketball star and current University of Florida assistant basketball coach John Pelphrey. Pitino coached both men at Kentucky from 1989 through 1992. Pitino and Pelphrey were the only people connected to Farmer’s college basketball career to write to the judge.
