ASHLAND — A Catlettsburg man was sentenced to life in federal prison Monday before U.S. District Judge David Bunning following his conviction for a violent kidnapping.
According to a U.S. Attorney’s press release, in his guilty plea agreement, Jonathan Lee Smithers, 41, admitted that on May 1 he physically abused a woman with whom he had been in a romantic relationship. Under threat and using a firearm, he made her accompany him to a store, where he brandished and assaulted her with the weapon and confined her inside the vehicle.
Smithers then drove her to the Flatwoods area. After again confining her inside the vehicle, Smithers stopped and forced her to exit. Still armed, he forced her to accompany him on foot, climbing fences, trespassing on private property and navigating random routes around the area for several hours.
Eventually, the woman escaped and hid from Smithers, and law enforcement found her collapsed at a gas station.
After the victim’s escape, Smithers remained in the area on foot.
Local law enforcement spotted Smithers coming out of the woods. When approached, Smithers shot Flatwoods police officer Tommy Robinson in the throat. Robinson survived life-threatening injuries.
“Not only did he use a firearm to abduct, terrify, and assault someone he was in a relationship with, he shot and seriously wounded a law enforcement officer responding to the scene,” said Carlton S. Shier IV, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. “Fortunately, through the dedicated work of our law enforcement partners, he must now pay the costs of his astonishing conduct. Protecting our communities from violence is one of our highest priorities, and we assume this sentence will serve as an example of the considerable consequences that can face those who engage in such stark acts of violence.”
Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen of the FBI’s Louisville Field Office said, “Today’s sentence ensures that an incredibly violent offender has been removed from the streets and will no longer be a threat to society. Mr. Smithers not only tragically kidnapped his trusted partner and led her on a series of terrorizing demands, but he then seriously wounded a local police officer.”