Corbin man gets three years for illegally owning machine gun

A Knox County man, the brother of former Judge-Executive Raymond Smith, will serve three years in federal prison for illegal possession of a machine gun, following his formal sentencing in U.S. District Court in London last week.

Last November Smith, 37, was indicted by a grand jury on charges related to his alleged illegal possession of firearms. The indictment charged him with being a convicted felon possessing a .45-caliber machine gun, a .22-caliber rifle, a 20-gauge shotgun and a silencer.

According to court records, in February, Smith pleaded guilty to one count of a three-count indictment, charging him with possession of a machine gun not registered with the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.
Prior to that, he had been sentenced to 10 months on Oct. 15. U.S. District Court Judge Gregory Van Tatenhove allowed him to remain free until he was scheduled to report to prison Dec. 1. Just days later, however, he allegedly possessed a .45-caliber machine gun and told his girlfriend he planned to use it to kill her ex-husband and another man, according to court documents.

Police were made aware of the potential situation when Henry Matt Smith’s girlfriend, 31-year-old Crystal Peters, called police after Henry Matt Smith allegedly assaulted her.

Peters gave a Knox County deputy sheriff a machine gun that Henry Matt Smith stated he was going to use to kill her ex-husband. With the gun was a silencer and ammunition according to the sworn statement. Peters was also charged in the case for warning Smith that her mother was in cooperation with authorities and was trying to set him up. Peters also allegedly told Smith to leave town.

Smith and his brother Raymond Smith previously admitted that while Raymond Smith was in office, they took part in a scheme to have companies owned by Henry Matt Smith do work for the county and cover up the payments.
Smith could have faced up to 10 years in prison and a fine of not more than $250,000.