Kentucky Man Sentenced To Four Life Sentences On Drug Trafficking And Aggravated Sexual Abuse Of Minors
PIKEVILLE, Ky. - A Knott County man has been sentenced to four consecutive life sentences, for drug trafficking and sexually abusing the young children of parents he encountered during his drug trafficking operations.
On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Amul Thapar sentenced Freddie Kennedy, Jr., on one count of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone; seven counts of crossing a state line with the intent to engage in a sex act with a minor under the age of 12; and, ten counts of transporting a minor under the age of 18 across a state line with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity.
In February, a jury convicted Kennedy, after a two-day trial. The evidence at trial established that from April 2013, through June 2015, Kennedy organized a drug conspiracy in which several people traveled to out-of-state pain clinics to illegally obtain prescription drugs. In exchange for funding these trips, Kennedy received a portion of the drugs, which he then distributed to local dealers and users in the Knott and Perry County areas.
The conspiracy was responsible for the illegal distribution of thousands of oxycodone pills. The evidence also established that, on multiple occasions and beginning sometime around October of 2013, Kennedy had sexual contact with four minor victims, including with three who were under the age of the 10 at the time he abused them. Kennedy gained access to these minor victims because their parents were individuals he encountered during his drug trafficking operations. While some of the sexual abuse occurred at Kennedy’s residences in Perry and Knott Counties, much of it occurred during separate out-of-state trips, where he took the young children with him.
Carlton S. Shier, IV, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Timothy J. Plancon, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’(DEA) Detroit Field Division; and Richard W. Sanders, Commissioner, Kentucky State (KSP), jointly announced the sentence.
The investigation was conducted by the DEA and KSP. Assistant U.S. Attorney W. Samuel Dotson prosecuted this case on behalf of the federal government.
