Ronnie Bowling, Commonwealth's Attorney

08/07/2026

Max Sentence in Arson Case on Career Offender

Billy Barnhill was convicted of 3rd Degree Arson, 1st Criminal Mischief, and being a 1st Degree Persistent Felony Offender by Commonwealth's Attorney Ronnir Bowling in the Whitley Circuit Court. Barnhill was investigated and arrested by Deputy Matt Leach with the Whitley County Sheriff's Department.

Due to Barnhill's career offender status, he was sentenced to 20 years, the maximum sentence under the law, by the Hon. Judge Dan Ballou.

Barnhill is another career criminal who never received enhanced sentenced utilizing the persistent felony offender statute.

Catch and release is for fishing, not felons!

08/05/2026

Failure to Comply with S*x Offender Registration = 10 year sentence

Christopher May was convicted of Failure to Comply with S*x Offender Registration, 2nd Offense and being a Persistent Felony Offender by Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney John L. Reynolds. May was investigated and apprehended by Officers Dorman Patrick, Chad Foley and Colby Cornett from the Williamsburg Police Department.

May was sentenced to ten (10) years in prison by the Hon. Judge Dan Ballou. Due to the Persistent Felony Offender enhancement, May will not be eligible for parole and will be required to serve the entirety of his sentence.

07/21/2026

KSP Cyber Crimes Conviction

Pierce Hamblin was convicted of Promoting a Minor in a S*xual Performance in the Whitley Circuit Court by Commonwealth’s Attorney Ronnie Bowling.

Following a mother’s complaint of a camera installed in a bathroom used by her children, Detective Jake Wilson with KSP Cyber Crimes successfully located the camera and downloaded its contents: unknowing surveillance footage of a child un******ng and showering in a common areas bathroom.

Hamblin was sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Hon. Judge Dan Ballou. Hamblin will be required to serve 85% of his sentence before eligible for parole and will be a lifetime s*x offender registrant.

Promises made, promises kept ✅

07/17/2026

Jury Recommends Life Sentence in Child R**e Case

Late yesterday afternoon, a Whitley County jury found Preston Coffey guilty of 1st Degree R**e and 1st Degree S*xual Abuse, Victim Under 12.

Following 2 days of testimony, the jury recommended a life sentence.

The case was prosecuted by Commonwealth’s Attorney Ronnie Bowling and Ramsey Dallam from the Office of the Attorney General following an investigation by Kentucky State Police Master Trooper Josh Roaden and the Cumberland Valley Child Advocacy Center.

Whitley and McCreary County will continue to be a zero tolerance jurisdiction for s*x crimes against kids.

07/09/2026

Career Criminal Receives Long Sentence

Roger Johnson was convicted of Manufacturing Methamphetamine, Trafficking in Methamphetamine, and being a 1st Degree Persistent Felony Offender in the Whitley Circuit Court by Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney John Reynolds and Josh Price.

Following a great investigation by Chad Foley, Eddie Cain, Elijah Hunter, and Johnny Fulton, Johnson was found operating an active m**hamphetamine lab with finished product held with intent to sell.

Johnson was sentenced to 28 years by the Hon. Judge Dan Ballou.

Manufacturing m**hamphetamine is extremely detrimental to our community, dangerous to neighbors and occupants of houses, and destroys lives. It has largely gone by the wayside with the infiltration of professionally made m**h, but m**h labs will ALWAYS be aggressively prosecuted.

06/18/2026

Had a great week meeting with other tough on crime prosecutors from across the country at the Protecting Americans Project Annual Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders and I met and talked with investigative journalist Nick Shirley about his work uncovering monstrous government fraud nationwide; hope to see him in the Commonwealth soon!

The Protecting Americans Project is a non-profit tough on crime initiative to support prosecutors who believe in the rule of law and push back on the "progressive prosecution movement."

04/23/2026

It was a tremendous honor to join Attorney General Russell Coleman in announcing the Kentucky Multidisciplinary Commission on Child S*xual Abuse’s
statewide model protocol.

The new best practices manual focuses on minimizing further trauma to young victims, while maximizing law enforcement and prosecution success in convicting s*xual predators.

Amist National Child Abuse Awareness Month, it’s exciting to add another tool to the toolbox in seeking out and sending child predators to prison.

03/27/2026

MCCREARY JURY CONVICTS ON CHILD ABUSE

Late last night, a McCreary County jury convicted Matthew Deaton and Amanda Riddle of Criminal Abuse, 1st Degree (x3), Stangulation, 1st Degree, and Tampering with Witnesses.

Deaton and Riddle were prosecuted by Commonwealth’s Attorney Ronnie Bowling and Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorneys John Reynolds and Josh Price. They were investigated by Trooper Craig Reed by the Kentucky State Police.

Thanks to teachers at a local elementary school speaking up and reporting concerning bruising on kids in their classroom, Trooper Reed was able to successfully investigate and confirm a horrible home life for two innocent kids.

The jury recommended Deaton serve 40 years in prison for the abuse and Riddle serve 37 years for failing to protect her children from ongoing abuse.

They are scheduled for formal sentencing before the Hon. Judge Dan Ballou. Both Defendants will be required to serve 85% of their sentences before being eligible for parole.

03/06/2026

I joined Attorney General Russell Coleman in urging the Kentucky Court of Appeals to apply HB5, the Safer Kentucky Act to 268 violent criminals pending parole.

Quote inside the press release ⬇️⬇️

The General Assembly passed the Safer Kentucky Act to protect families and support law enforcement. It's why we're asking the Court of Appeals to keep these criminals where they belong.

More here: https://www.kentucky.gov/Pages/Activity-stream.aspx?n=AttorneyGeneral&prId=1893

02/19/2026

This week, as President of the Kentucky Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Association, I had the privilege of hosting the annual Winter Prosecutor’s Conference for felony prosecutors across the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

In addition to a host of wonderful presenters, we were proud to host Ms. Elizabeth Smart, national author, child abduction advocate and survivor of childhood abduction.

It was a privilege getting to know, meeting, and hearing how Ms. Smart’s survived a horrific crime and transformed her story into being a national hero.