FRANKFORT, Ky. (Oct. 3, 2025) – Attorney General Russell Coleman announced today that the Attorney General’s Violent Crime Reduction Team (VRT) has secured another conviction and two more felony indictments. The Louisville-based VRT is part of the Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Unit.
Cody Cahill, 35, pleaded guilty in Jefferson Circuit Court to one count of Possession of a Handgun by a Convicted Felon (Class C Felony), and he will be sentenced to five years. Cahill, a previously convicted felon, was found in possession of a handgun while in the parking lot of an unlocked storage facility after police conducted a security check. Sentencing is scheduled for November 17, 2025.
“In Kentucky — and especially in Louisville — law enforcement and prosecutors are working every day to get guns out of the hands of criminals,” said Attorney General Coleman. “Our strong partnership with the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office and law enforcement has taken another illegal gun off the street and put another dangerous offender behind bars.”
The St. Mathews Police Department investigated the case. Assistant Attorney General Hammad Khan prosecuted the case on behalf of the Commonwealth.
Download Cahill's photo.
Separately, the VRT secured two new felony indictments.
A Jefferson County Grand Jury indicted Dorian Lovett, 19, for one count of Assault First Degree, Complicity (Class B Felony) and one count of Wanton Endangerment First Degree with the Discharge of a Firearm (Class C Felony).
The Louisville Metro Police Department (LMPD) investigated the case. Assistant Attorney General Hammad Khan will prosecute on behalf of the Commonwealth.
A Jefferson County Grand Jury also indicted Stephen Brandon Barker, 38, for one count of Possession of a Handgun by a Convicted Felon (Class C Felony), one count of Fleeing or Evading the Police Third Degree (Class A Misdemeanor) and two traffic violations.
The University of Louisville Police Department investigated the case. Assistant Attorney General Hammad Khan will prosecute on behalf of the Commonwealth.
Download Lovett’s photo. Download Barker’s photo.
The Kentucky Supreme Court’s rule on trial publicity limits information the Office can provide publicly.
The charges in an indictment are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Louisville-based Violent Crime Reduction Team
In October 2024, Attorney General Coleman joined Jefferson County Commonwealth’s Attorney Gerina D. Whethers, Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg, Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell, LMPD Chief Paul Humphrey and Jefferson County Circuit Court Clerk David L. Nicholson to announce the Attorney General’s Violent Crime Reduction Team, a first-of-its-kind collaboration among their offices to combat violent crime in Louisville.
General Coleman established a new Attorney General’s Office location in downtown Louisville, now staffed by three prosecutors and a detective. The downtown office space used by the VRT was secured in partnership with the Mayor’s Office and Jefferson Circuit Court Clerk Nicholson. The team is collaborating with Commonwealth’s Attorney Whethers’ Office to be assigned and prosecute cases. Two of the prosecutors have also been sworn in as Special Assistant United States Attorneys, allowing them to bring the full force of both the state and federal governments against criminals to protect Kentucky families.
According to an agreement between the Attorney General and the Commonwealth’s Attorney, the dedicated prosecutors and investigators from the Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Unit and the Department of Criminal Investigations (DCI) will handle select cases involving nonfatal shootings, convicted felons in possession of a firearm, Louisville’s Group Violence Intervention Program (GVI) and the Prohibited Firearms Possessor program (PFP).