By Abigail Roberts
A former Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy was sentenced to prison last week.
Ronald Luster, 55, of Hustonville pleaded guilty in April to three charges including abuse of public trust, tampering with physical evidence and official misconduct.
While conducting a search of a residence in 2025, Luster admitted that he removed his body camera, improperly removed a quantity of cash and put it in his pocket, then put his camera back on, according to court records.
Hon. Kaelin G. Reed, Circuit Court judge for Green, Marion, Taylor and Washington counties, was appointed the special judge for Luster’s case. On June 26, he handed down a three-year prison sentence with no work release for the first 30 days. After the first 30 days, he will be allowed work release for 150 days. Luster will then be placed on probation.
Reed acknowledged that he received copies of character references and letters of support for Luster from Luster’s attorney and they were included in the court file.
Defense details financial woes as backdrop for ‘stupid, impulsive decision’
Luster’s attorney, Brandon Marshall, addressed the court and discussed Luster’s history of public service.
“Setting aside the (inaudible) case, Ron Luster has lived a clean, service-filled life,” Marshall said. “He risked his life for several decades working as a police officer. As the letters that we filed with the court highlight, Ron has a bit of a servant’s heart.”
Marshall said one letter details how Luster takes an elderly cancer patient to treatments and helps them with grocery shopping and other things.
The defense attorney also acknowledged Luster’s family, including his wife and three teenagers, and said providing for the family has been a steady struggle. The discovery in the case included almost two years of bank records, which allegedly detail those struggles.
“Ron and his wife have been living paycheck-to-paycheck, month-to-month, for a very long time with Ron’s modest salary and his wife’s even lower health department pay keeping the family with their head just barely above water financially most of the time,” Marshall said.
He said those financial issues led to Luster’s decision to break the law.
“It’s from that backdrop, that Ron – an officer who regularly volunteered to work triple shifts due to departmental under-staffing, with all but the first 40 hours being totally unpaid – from that backdrop, Ron made the stupid, impulsive decision to grab from the search scene a few $20 bills. Ron recalls it being no more than $100,” Marshall said.
Marshall said Luster will regret the choice for the rest of his days.
“He betrayed his badge, his colleagues, and his community and for that Ron is deeply ashamed,” he said.
Luster, who will lose his law enforcement certification shortly after the court enters the judgement in the case, will never again wear a police uniform or execute a search warrant.
“I want to emphasize, Ron agrees those consequences are right and necessary given what he has done,” Marshall said.
The defense attorney said Luster has no prior criminal history, doesn’t drink or do drugs, has a stable home and poses a low risk. Marshall said Luster worries about the impact this has had on his family and how a three-year prison sentence will impact them financially.
“For that reason, we request a sentence of three years probation with a special condition requiring the first six months to be served in a county jail with work release privileges,” Marshall said. “Such a sentence from our perspective would punish and deter in equal measures, would not unduly depreciate the seriousness of this offense and would still allow Ron to make his mortgage payment to support his girls and then not have to reset his employment yet again.”
The defense was also worried about Luster being placed in an inmate population with people he has previously arrested and asked that he be placed in the Russell County Detention Center.
Luster then shared a brief statement.
“My actions, they were, there was no reason for it. I’m deeply ashamed and embarrassed,” Luster said.
Commonwealth’s Attorney argues against probation, work release
Commonwealth’s Attorney for Pulaski, Lincoln and Rockcastle Counties David L. Dalton said there are two baskets of people who lose in these types of cases – the family of the offender and the system.
Luster’s actions led to the dismissal of over 60 cases, Dalton said.
“One of the reasons that there wasn’t much of a fight, in all candor, was that the drug dealer had a nice surveillance system in the house and there it is, not much you can do,” he said. “It is a stereotypical, sadly, ridiculous rip. It was a crime of opportunity.”
Part of the harm is not just to the people in the courtroom Friday, Dalton said, but the untold people who his actions impacted inevitably – the victims of the cases that had to be dismissed and all of the people who work on those cases, he said.
“All the people who put trust in him, the reward has been the dismissal and set back of justice,” Dalton said. “I sat with him for hours at grand jury on cases, presenting them, and I feel like a fool, I feel like an absolute fool that I took his word.”
Dalton strongly disagreed with the request for work release or probation.
“I’m not asking you to put him in jail because I feel like a fool,” he said. “I’m asking you to put him in jail because when you besmirch the authority that society grants – we’re not some tribal society. We make a social contract and we allow people to have the authority to arrest us, to detain us, to possibly put us in prison with their testimony.”
It is a system that is built on trust, Dalton said.
“Sadly, for his family, but just for this community, he’s got to go to jail. There can’t be any form of release,” he said.
The Commonwealth’s Attorney said he has already shown leniency by recommending 30% of what Luster could have received. Dalton said he does support Luster being lodged in a jail where he can be kept safe.
“True for every defendant that comes in front of you, jail is an inconvenience and it is a hardship on families, but inconvenience and hardships does not undo the fact that he has set the good name of Lincoln County law enforcement and the pursuit of justice in this county back by years,” Dalton said. “If it be set back by years, then the court should impose a three-year sentence as recommended.”
Dalton said allowing the work release and probation would diminish how important it is for the public to be able to trust law enforcement.
Judge hands down sentence
Hon. Reed began by stating that he was appointed to preside over the case as a special judge who is not familiar with the people involved in the case. He also said he is not obligated to Lincoln County voters.
“That gives me a unique perspective for which to preside over the case, and, for better or for worse, I’m not beholden to the electorate of Lincoln County. If the folks here don’t like the decision I make, they can’t throw me out of office,” Reed said.
Reed said he typically does not “get into the weeds” on most cases but he chose to review the discovery in this case.
“I was shocked, is the way I would put it, at how quickly the circumstances changed in this case from the execution of a lawful search warrant to Mr. Luster’s criminal actions,” Reed said. “Mr. Dalton is right, there was no question…there was a 4K surveillance system in effect and it made me think how many times has this happened when there wasn’t.”
Reed said he pondered how many times there was a stop where it was only one officer and no surveillance.
“It’s an open question in my mind,” he said. “On the other hand, Mr. Luster has had a long and distinguished career in law enforcement and has dedicated his professional life, right up until the events that gave rise to this indictment, to policing this community and providing a service.”
It’s not a cut and dry case, Reed said.
“There are factors that we look at when we decide whether probation is appropriate or not and Mr. Luster ticks a lot of those boxes: I don’t think he would be difficult to supervise in the community; I don’t think he would pose an undue risk to the public; I don’t think he would be a flight risk or be a risk to any of the folks in this case. But the one factor I kept coming back to is would probation unduly depreciate the seriousness of this offense,” Reed said.
The theft charge alone is not a felony, he said, but the fact that it was done under the color of law by a public official is what makes this a felony case.
“I spent a lot of time thinking about this case…” Reed said. “There are competing narratives and competing intentions here. There is no explanation or excuse for the behavior.”
Reed said there is a middle ground to be found between prison and walking the streets and he does agree Luster should be transferred to the Russell County Detention Center.
After a brief pause, Reed handed down the sentence.
“Your term of imprisonment will be three years to be committed,” Reed said. “I am going to impose an alternative sentence of 180 days for you to serve at the Russell County Detention Center. You will be eligible for work release after 30 days and the remainder, the balance of your sentence will be probated for a period of five years.”
Reed then spoke directly to Luster
“I’m not much on speeches or lectures Mr. Luster. I trust you understand that in the event that you find yourself in front of another judge you should not expect such a favorable resolution to your case,” Reed said. “The leniency the court has chosen to grant you in this case is based on your years of committed public service and I’m going to leave it at that.”
Dalton asked that the order by the judge reflect the Commonwealth’s opposition to the alternative plan. Reed agreed.
Luster was taken into custody and has been transferred to the Russell County Detention Center.
