Kentucky Attorney Charged with Murder-for-Hire Plot While Serving Prison Sentence
Chase Cox, 33, a suspended Northern Kentucky defense attorney already in prison for witness retaliation, has been federally indicted for allegedly arranging a murder-for-hire.
Suspended Northern Kentucky Lawyer Faces Federal Murder-for-Hire Charges
A suspended Northern Kentucky defense attorney already serving a five-year prison sentence for witness retaliation has been indicted on federal charges of plotting to have someone killed, cincinnati.com reports.
Chase Cox, 33, was indicted by a grand jury on 12 November in federal court in Covington, Kentucky. He faces charges of using interstate commerce facilities to commission a murder-for-hire and lying to federal agents.
Prosecutors allege Cox used the mail and a "facility of interstate commerce" with the intent to arrange the killing of a victim identified only by initials in court filings. When FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents asked Cox whether he posed a threat to the victim, he told them: "No, I love [the victim] with all my heart, I would never put [them] in harm's way." Prosecutors say that statement was a lie, made while Cox was actively attempting to arrange the killing.
Cox's attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Candace Smith ordered Cox transferred from the Shelby County Detention Center into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service. He is currently serving a five-year sentence for witness retaliation — a charge stemming from an incident involving his former girlfriend, who served as the primary witness against him at a June 2024 trial in which he was convicted of misdemeanours.
Cox was originally sentenced in Campbell County Circuit Court to five years of probation, but was later ordered to prison after violating court orders by testing positive for cocaine use.
The witness retaliation conviction arose from the vandalism of the ex-girlfriend's vehicle. In August 2024, she reported that her car, parked in the garage of her Newport apartment building, had been scratched with a racial slur and other derogatory language, and that its tires had been slashed. She told police she suspected Cox's involvement after seeing a former client of his enter the building.
Court filings identify that former client as Joshua Baker, whom Cox reportedly referred to as his "felon friend." Baker gained access to the apartment building using an access code belonging to another of Cox's associates. He subsequently told authorities he had colluded with Cox to damage the vehicle, and text messages obtained by police showed evidence he was paid to carry out the act.
Baker was later sentenced in an unrelated case to 15 years in prison for hiding from authorities within the substructure of the Brent Spence Bridge following a high-speed pursuit, an incident that closed the bridge for several hours until first responders located and arrested him.
Cox is scheduled to appear in federal court for an arraignment on 9 December. If convicted on both charges, he faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)