Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Twenty-Four More Defendants Charged Federally in Surge to Reduce Violent Crime in Louisville
Project Safe Neighborhood effort continues multi-agency collaboration to tackle guns, drug, and gangs
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – United States Attorney Russell M. Coleman announced this month’s latest surge efforts to aggressively tackle violent crime in Metro Louisville with the Louisville Federal Grand Jury returning 21 felony indictments charging 24 individuals with numerous counts, including firearms violations and possession and distribution of illegal narcotics.
This month’s federal indictments are in addition to the previous two rounds of indictments against 60 Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) defendants, totaling 84 total PSN defendants this calendar year. The charges continue to develop this year through an ongoing partnership between multiple law enforcement agencies to maximize penalties for the “trigger pullers,” the most violent repeat offenders as part of the Department of Justice’s PSN initiative.
“Project Safe Neighborhoods or PSN is more than another bureaucratic program, or a logo,” announced U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman, “It is a commitment to aggressively reduce violent crime in Louisville through true partnerships with ATF, LMPD, and other engaged partners. Much more to come as we are not there yet.”
Defendants charged in the latest surge have previously been found guilty of numerous crimes including: manslaughter, possession of controlled substances, drug trafficking, assault, robbery, receiving stolen property, and wanton endangerment among other charges.
If convicted at trial, the maximum sentence for unlawfully possessing a firearm is no more than ten years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release. If that firearm is possessed or used in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, a defendant faces a mandatory minimum five years in prison in addition to the sentence received for the underlying charges, and could receive up to life in prison.
These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Nute Bonner, Terry Cushing, Tom Dyke, Larry Fentress, Amanda Gregory, Jo Lawless, Erin McKenzie, Randy Ream, Mac Shannon, Amy Sullivan, Christopher Tieke, Lettricea Jefferson-Webb, David Weiser, Stephanie Zimdahl and Special Assistant United States Attorney Ebery Haegle with stalwart assistance from Laura Stinson, Western District of Kentucky Grand Jury Coordinator. The cases are being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Louisville Metro Police Department, and the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is partnering with federal, state, and local law enforcement to specifically identify criminals responsible for significant violent crime in the Western District of Kentucky. A centerpiece of this effort is Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program that brings together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer for everyone. Today’s indictments are part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative in the Western District of Kentucky.
The indictment of a person by a Grand Jury is an accusation only and that person is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.