PHILPOT, Ky. — Donald J. Blandford, once one of the state's most powerful legislators, now spends his time clearing brush and feeding wildlife on farms and hunting grounds he owns east of Owensboro.

        As Kentucky's longest-serving speaker of the House, Mr. Blandford played crucial roles in landmark reforms of the state's education and political systems.

        That came to a halt in 1993 when Mr. Blandford was convicted of extorting bribes from a lobbyist, racketeering and lying to the FBI. He spent five years and four months in federal prison.

        In an interview with the Louisville Courier-Journal, Mr. Blandford, 62, said he was unjustly imprisoned.

        “I don't think I did anything any other politician in the country didn't do, so if I deserve it I think they all do,” Mr. Blandford said in the living room of his home near Philpot. “But again, I'm a big boy, and I took it, and I'm doing fine now and I'm not dwelling on it and I don't obsess with it.”

        Steve Pence, chief federal prosecutor at Mr. Blandford's trial, disputes Mr. Blandford's contention that he was unjustly convicted. “The evidence, the tapes, the law and the jury all say different,” Mr. Pence said.

        Dozens of FBI agents swooped down on legislators and lobbyists in 1992. They interviewed Mr. Blandford in his office and played him a videotape showing him taking the last of three $500 payments from lobbyist Bill McBee, a friend and former legislator.

        “The lobbyist group up there kind of took care of legislators in the evening,” Mr. Blandford said, adding that Mr. McBee sometimes couldn't go on nighttime outings but would supply money for drinks and dinner.

        Mr. Blandford maintains he shouldn't have been convicted because he didn't do anything for the money and never promised to. Appellate judges ruled that wasn't necessary for a conviction.

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