By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
Russell Coleman, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Kentucky, has weighed in on the hundreds of pardons and sentence commutations issued by Republican former Gov. Matt Bevin during the last days of his administration.
Bevin granted clemency to more than 600 people, mostly to those convicted of low-level drug offenses, some of whom had already served their sentences. But there were pardons issued to violent offenders as well, prompting cries for investigations by state and federal authorities.
U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman
In a statement issued last week, Coleman said, “If the underlying conduct took place in the Western District of Kentucky, it will be treated like any other violation of federal law. We will review the matter when brought to us by one of our Commonwealth’s Attorney colleagues or a partner law enforcement agency and examine through the lens of the statute of limitations, double jeopardy, and evidentiary requirements to determine if it meets Department of Justice standards to then aggressively prosecute.”
Coleman noted the final decision on prosecuting the matter may not be up to him. “The uniqueness of a situation of federal prosecution following a state executive pardon will, however, require ultimate approval by the highest levels at the Department of Justice in Washington, DC.”
He did add that he has issues with some of the pardons.
“I am particularly concerned about the risk to the public by those previously convicted of sex offenses, who by virtue of the state pardon, will not fall under any post-release supervision or be required to register as sex offenders.”
Two of the most controversial pardons were those issued to a child rapist and to a man convicted of murder, whose family held a fundraiser for Bevin.
Micah Schoettle was in the second year of a 23-year prison sentence when Bevin pardoned him of rape, sodomy and other sexual crimes. Kenton County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Sanders, who put Schoettle away, called the pardon a “completely classless move.”
Bevin defended the Schoettle pardon in a radio interview, saying there was no physical evidence of rape in the case.
“Just as offensive are all of his ignorant statements that he made about physical injury in assault cases,” said Sanders, a Republican.
“He obviously did not do any research on this matter or he would know that only 2 percent of sexual assault victims show any visible physical injury as a result of the rapes that they’ve suffered,” Sanders stated. “This is the kind of foolish ignorance that prosecutors have been working for decades to overcome.”
Sanders has launched an investigation into Schoettle’s pardon and whether his family’s wealth and political connections played a role in it.
The other most controversial pardon was to Patrick Baker, a man convicted of homicide and other crimes whose family held a fundraiser for Bevin last year, which reportedly netted $21,000.
Two other people charged alongside Baker in the slaying of Donald Mills remain in prison.
