Bowling Green, KY - A Terre Haute, Indiana, man was sentenced on Tuesday, February 25, 2025 to two years and six months in federal prison for illegally transferring a firearm to a convicted felon.
U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky, Acting Special Agent in Charge A.J. Gibes of the ATF Louisville Field Division, Commissioner Phillip Burnett, Jr. of the Kentucky State Police, and Sheriff Derek Polston of the Russell County Sheriff’s Office made the announcement.
According to court documents, Shawn Michael Kays, 42, was sentenced to two years and six months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for illegally transferring a firearm to a convicted felon. According to the plea agreement, between November of 2023 and January of 2024, Kays transported and transferred a Smith & Wesson, Model SD9VE, nine-millimeter pistol to a convicted felon. A criminal complaint filed on September 19, 2024, alleged that firearm was later used to kill Russell County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Phipps on September 16, 2024. Kays is not charged with or alleged to have been involved in the shooting.
There is no parole in the federal system.
This case was investigated by the ATF Bowling Green Branch Office and the Russell County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the ATF Columbus Field Division, the ATF Indianapolis Field Division Office, and the Kentucky State Police.
Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Nicholas Rabold, of the U.S. Attorney’s Bowling Green Branch Office, prosecuted this case.
Deputy Phipps was a native of Adair County, KY.
