FRANKFORT, Ky. (Sept. 17. 2025) – Attorney General Russell Coleman announced today that action by the Attorney General’s Violent Crime Reduction Team (VRT) resulted in its first jury verdict. The Louisville- based VRT is part of the Attorney General’s Special Prosecutions Unit and has secured nearly 80 felony indictments and eight convictions to date.
Jacob Burnett, 42, was found guilty by a Jefferson County jury on Tuesday on one count of Assault Third Degree (Class D Felony) and being a Persistent Felony Offender First Degree. Today, Burnett was sentenced to a total of 17 years.
While incarcerated at the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections awaiting trial on a murder charge, Burnett physically assaulted a corrections officer, striking the officer multiple times and knocking him down.
“Louisville’s violent criminals are facing the justice they deserve, and today’s jury verdict will make this community safer for the families who live here,” said Attorney General Coleman. “By collaborating with LMPD and the Jefferson Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, we will continue going after violent criminals to protect Kentucky families.”
The Louisville Metro Police Department investigated the case. Assistant Attorneys General Critt Cunningham and Hammad Khan prosecuted the case on behalf of the Commonwealth. The Jefferson Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office originally indicted the case.
Download Burnett’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.
Background
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).