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Press Release

Frankfort Man Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine and a Firearm Offense

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Kentucky

FRANKFORT, Ky.  — Jonathan L. Courtland, 35, of Frankfort, pleaded guilty today to Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine and being a Convicted Felon in Possession of a Firearm.

In his guilty plea, Courtland admitted that he had engaged in several instances of cocaine distribution in Frankfort, Kentucky, between December 2016 and April 2017.  He also admitted that, on April 24, 2017, he possessed a handgun, even though he had previously been convicted of one or more felony drug offenses. 

Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Amy Hess, Special Agent in Charge, Louisville FBI; Richard Sanders, Commissioner Kentucky State Police; and Chief Travis Ellis, Frankfort Police Department, jointly made the announcement today after Courtland entered his guilty plea.

Federal Bureau of Investigation, Kentucky State Police, and Frankfort Police Department conducted the investigation.  Assistant United States Attorney Roger W. West represented the United States in the case.  The case is part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, a Department of Justice initiative to reduce violent crime through partnerships between federal, state, and local law enforcement.  The goal of the PSN Program is to use these partnerships to make communities safer.   

Courtland will appear for sentencing before United States District Court Judge Gregory F. Van Tatenhove in Frankfort, on April 19, 2018, at 2:30 p.m. 

Courtland faces a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years (180 months) on the firearms offense and a maximum prison sentence of 30 years on the cocaine offense.  However, the Court will impose any sentence after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the applicable federal statutes.  

Updated January 8, 2018

Topic
Project Safe Neighborhoods