Ex-Gov. Collins’ Husband Gets 5-Year Sentence

Bill Collins, convicted of extorting nearly $2 million from people who did business with the state while his wife was governor, was sentenced Wednesday to more than five years in prison.

The former dentist also was fined $20,000 for a conviction that included a tax-related conspiracy charge involving kickbacks disguised as political contributions.

Collins “got into the pool with a bunch of piranhas . . . that were more than willing to help him violate the law,” U.S. District Judge Joseph M. Hood said.

The government charged that Collins exploited a perception that he could influence the awarding of state contracts during the 1983-87 term of his wife, Martha Layne Collins. He owned half of an investment company that sold limited partnerships in real estate and thoroughbred horses, and collected hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees for managing the partnerships.

Collins, 55, found willing investors in two bond underwriting firms--Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette of New York and Cranston Securities Co. of Columbus, Ohio. The companies and their executives were never charged. Prosecutors used various documents to show that executives of the firms curried favor with Collins to get Kentucky’s state bond business.