Terre Haute Man Pleads Guilty to Firearms Trafficking Offense

Louisville, KY - Today, a Terre Haute, Indiana, man pleaded guilty to illegally transferring a firearm to a convicted felon.

U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky, Special Agent in Charge R. Shawn Morrow 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, 41, pleaded guilty to an information charging firearms trafficking. 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 a Russell County Sheriff's Deputy on September 16, 2024. Kays is not charged with or alleged to have been involved in the shooting.

Sentencing is scheduled for February 10, 2025. The maximum penalty is fifteen years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

There is no parole in the federal system.

This case is being investigated by the ATF Louisville Field Division, 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, is prosecuting this case.

This case was prosecuted under the new criminal provisions of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which Congress enacted, and the President signed in June 2022. The Act is the first federal statute specifically designed to target the unlawful trafficking and straw-purchasing of firearms.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

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