Overview

""No one knows crime in Eastern Kentucky like Ken Taylor. Forty years fighting violence, corruption, stealing and scamming. Crack the cover of this one and enjoy the ride."" -David Grise, author of Bogustan: An Adventure in Diplomatic Misunderstanding Retired attorney Kenneth Taylor brings readers deep into the world of being a federal prosecutor in Kentucky. With humor, insight, and vivid detail, Ken recounts some of the most notable cases of his decades-long career pursuing colorful and devious public figures suspected of either quietly skirting the law or unabashedly flouting it. Among the most emboldened pursued by Ken and fellow law enforcers were a Kentucky state cabinet secretary, legislators, mayors, county judge executives, and a University of Kentucky basketball star. We see through Ken's eyes how the judicial system works, and sometimes fails. Ken discusses various prosecutorial strategies, including partnering with other federal and state law enforcers. Law students and lay persons alike will be both entertained and enlightened by Ken's travails.

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Reviews

""We have all finished legal books and thought, that author has never been near a courtroom. When you finish Trials, Tributes, and Tribulations you will know you have been reading about someone on the front lines."" -Richard Spees, author of Capitol Gains and Capitol Losses ""As someone who is not a legal expert, Taylor's true stories about the legal system read like a fast-paced novel. His experience as a prosecutor offers a fascinating glimpse into the complexities of federal courtroom drama. Trials, Tributes, and Tribulations is serious, funny, and educational-all at once. I loved this book."" -David Randal, author of Kelsey's Crossing ""Trials, Tributes, and Tribulations is a fascinating glimpse behind the scene of criminal trials. Ken Taylor's true stories make a reader wonder how many other crooks get away with their evil deeds! He explains the rationale and methods of bringing complicated cases to trial, while striving to remain objective and even find a bit of humor in it all. There's never a dearth of criminals in society, and it's refreshing to see that some of them-whether involved in laundering votes for public office, scamming investors in bogus oil-drilling deals, running drugs, or fencing stolen property-really do get put behind bars when lawyers such as Taylor are on the job."" -Carol Ann Tardiff, coauthor of Blindsided: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Legal Abuse ""Ken Taylor gives a veteran prosecutor's perspective on many of the biggest federal cases in recent Kentucky history-a diverse collection of more than thirty stories that covers all the seven deadly sins except gluttony. (Taylor compensates for that by including an extra dose of greed.) The cast of defendants is rich: political scoundrels, brutal killers, pain-pill pushers, bank robbers, wife beaters, crooked promoters, a Kentucky basketball hero, a governor's mistress and more. More than a simple 'greatest hits' collection, Taylor acknowledges his mistakes and examines a couple of cases he lost."" -Tom Loftus, government and politics reporter (1976-2025) for The Courier-Journal, The Kentucky Post, the Kentucky Lantern ""Taylor has opened a window into some of the most high-profile corruption cases and others from his career, providing insight into the inner workings of the legal system, courtroom strategy and the lighter moments that can occur even when the stakes are high. It's a great read for anyone interested in the law, politics or history."" -Bill Estep, Southern and Eastern Kentucky reporter (1985-2025) for the Lexington Herald Leader ""Ken Taylor prosecuted public corruption, among other serious crimes, during his career as an assistant US attorney in Kentucky. The principle that government officials shouldn't use their positions to enrich themselves might sound naive to some these days, but Taylor took it seriously enough to send offenders to prison when the law allowed. In his engrossing new memoir, Taylor reveals the behind-the-scenes stories of the federal government's pursuit of crooked Kentucky politicians and their entrenched cronies and bagmen, all of whom believed they could game the system and get away with it, and most of whom were wrong."" -John Cheves, government accountability and investigative reporter (1997-present) for the Lexington Herald-Leader

Author Information

Kenneth Taylor had a forty-plus-year career as a Marine Corps lawyer, a criminal defense attorney, and a federal prosecutor. A lifelong resident of Kentucky, he is a graduate of Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green and the University of Kentucky School of Law in Lexington. Taylor was involved in over 200 jury trials involving a wide range of crimes, both state and federal, from murder and rape to drug crimes, firearms offenses, white collar fraud, and racketeering. He has previously written magazine articles and for a professional law journal.

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