The jury's verdict of guilty was returned following a three day trial which began Sept. 19 before Honorable Thomas B. Russell, Judge, United States District Court.
Hankins was tried for knowingly and intentionally manufacturing 212 marijuana plants, with a street value of approximately $400,000; for knowingly threatening to kill and cripple two law enforcement officers with the intent to retaliate against them; and for soliciting another person to murder or cripple two law enforcement officers.
The maximum potential penalties are life imprisonment, a $3,250,000 fine, and supervised release for a period of 4 years.
On March 24, Hankins was brought before a federal court judge in Bowling Green for a preliminary and attention hearing on the charges that Hankins attempted to put a 'hit' out on two local police officers.
Agent David Hayes of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms testified that he first began to deal with Hankins during an executed search warrant by the South Central Kentucky Drug Task Force on July 27, 2004. The director of this task force is Jim DeVasher.
On Hankins' property, located at 615 Dawson Road, Russellville, agents of the task force discovered 212 marijuana plants located in four or five different plots of land. Inside Hankins' home, they found processed marijuana, digital scales, elements of marijuana cultivation such as Miracle Grow, and six firearms.
Hankins was, as a result of the findings on his property, brought up on state charges. Agent Hayes testified that after being charged, authorities initiated a "forfeiture of property," which included a truck, bank accounts, and the rest of the property upon which the marijuana was discovered. As director of the Drug Task Force, Jim DeVasher was "ultimately responsible for the state charges."
Agent Hayes was asked in court when he first heard of threats directed toward DeVasher, and later, Sheriff Wallace Whittaker. Hays testified that someone with whom Hankins was very familiar had reported on Nov. 8, 2004 that Hankins had approached him to find a "hit man" to have DeVasher and Whittaker harmed, and that he had offered to pay $20,000. The person who reported these verbal threats agreed to become a "confidential informant," and was then wired with a transmitter to record further conversations with Hankins.
A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging Harold Hankins with manufacturing 100 or more marijuana plants, for retaliating against two law enforcement officers by threatening to kill or cripple them by shooting them, and for soliciting the murder or the crippling of two law enforcement officers. The indictment was handed down April 6 in Bowling Green.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Brian Butler and Trent J. Sandifur and was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the South Central Kentucky Drug Task Force, and the Logan County Sheriff's Office.
Hankins is scheduled to be sentenced before Honorable Thomas B. Russell on Dec. 5 at 11:30 a.m. in Bowling Green.
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