On Wednesday, Oct. 2, Shawn Michael Kays from Terre Haute, Indiana, pleaded guilty to illegally transferring a firearm to a convicted felon.
A criminal complaint filed on Sept. 19 alleges that the firearm in question was later used to kill Russell County Sheriff’s Deputy Josh Phipps on September 16. Phipps was a resident of Adair County.
Kays is not charged with or alleged to have been involved in the shooting.
Russell County Sheriff Derek Polston participated in the announcement of Kays pleading guilty. The announcement also came from 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, and Commissioner Phillip Burnett, Jr. of the Kentucky State Police.
Kays, 41, pleaded guilty to an information charging firearms trafficking. According to the plea agreement, Kays transported and transferred a Smith & Wesson, Model SD9VE, nine-millimeter pistol to a convicted felon between November of 2023 and January of 2024.
At some point, the gun is believed to have entered the hands of Joshua Arnold, who is alleged to have used it in the killing of Deputy Phipps.
Kays’s sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 10, 2025. The maximum penalty for his offence is 15 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.
The investigation into Deputy Phipps’ death is still ongoing. As Arnold died at the scene of the shooting, Kays presents the first person brought to court in Phipps’ death.
