EXTRA CONTENT: Judge rules Nighbert, two others, must stay in jail until trial

Read documents related to this case by clicking here.

A former Williamsburg police officer, accused of burglarizing a local pharmacy in early 2006 and being part of a seven-member drug trafficking ring, will be forced to await trial in jail following the ruling by a judge last week.

Kenneth Bradley Nighbert, 32, will be held in custody until trial according to a ruling issued by U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert E. Weir. In his ruling, Weir noted he decided against allowing Nighbert to be free prior to trial for several reasons, including:

• During his time as a Williamsburg Police Officer he became addicted to and began abusing Oxycontin (up to 15 OC 80s per day) and that he also used cocaine, but has never been tested with any sort of regularity for abuse of Oxycontin while on parole.

• He has shown a willingness, in the past, to commit crimes while on probation.

• Nighbert may be a risk to the community because, since he is facing a potential penalty of life imprisonment if convicted, the situation "could create desperation in Defendant’s mind. On this record, he simply is too dangerous to be released on conditions," Weir wrote.

The ruling came following a lengthy detention hearing during which Nighbert’s attorney, Luke Morgan, claimed his client had made every effort to improve his life while out of jail. He also noted that he is now a father and has no known parole violations.
But prosecutors painted a different picture, saying Nighbert had only been lightly supervised by his state parole officer even though he was considered a "high risk" parolee, and that claims he was in compliance are dubious.

Along with Nighbert and Larry Harville, 30; Michael Scott Ball, 35; Branden Ray Sutton, 32; Shannon Lee Taylor, 28; Tina Elizabeth Davis, 31; and Joritta Nicole Petrey have also been indicted. All of them are accused of possessing and distributing prescription pills, mostly oxycodone, from Dec. 2005 until May 18, 2007. Police believe they were supplied the pills by Demetrius Stringer – a Michigan drug dealer who pleaded guilty last year to distributing over 10,000 80mg Oxycontin pills in Whitley County.

Ball and Sutton have also been ordered to be detained prior to trial. Harville and Taylor are in jail currently for other offenses. Petrey and Davis have been released pending trial.

Nighbert resigned from the Williamsburg Police force in Sept. 2006, five months after he was involved in an on-duty traffic crash that injured another motorist. It was later learned he had used cocaine and Oxycodone prior to the accident. He received a probated sentence for the incident.

He is the son of former Williamsburg Mayor and Kentucky Transportation Cabinet Secretary Bill Nighbert

In 2007, Laurel County Sheriff’s Deputies charged Nighbert with first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance, possession of drug paraphernalia, tampering with physical evidence, prescription not in proper container, impersonating a peace officer and carrying a concealed deadly weapon after arresting him in southern Laurel County while investigating an unrelated stabbing incident at a business on American Greeting Card Road. He was sentenced to five years in jail and has been on parole for about 16 months in relation to that case.

Nighbert and his six co-conspirators are all scheduled to stand trial June 1.