Shawn Michael Kays, Firearms Trafficking, Kentucky 2024

A convicted felon’s life was changed forever after a Terre Haute man illegally sold them a firearm, sparking a chain of events that would lead to a tragic loss of life. Shawn Michael Kays, a 41-year-old Terre Haute, Indiana, man, pleaded guilty to illegally transferring a firearm to a convicted felon according to a plea agreement in the Western District of Kentucky.

The case began when Kays transported and transferred a Smith & Wesson, Model SD9VE, nine-millimeter pistol to a convicted felon between November of 2023 and January of 2024. 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.

According to court documents, Kays pleaded guilty to an information charging firearms trafficking. The plea agreement states that Kays is not charged with or alleged to have been involved in the shooting. The 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.

The case is being 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.

Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Nicholas Rabold, of the U.S. Attorney’s Bowling Green Branch Office, is prosecuting this case as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). This program brings 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.

Kays is scheduled to be sentenced on 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.