Former Knox County magistrate pleads guilty to selling pain pills

A former Knox County magistrate has plead guilty to selling pills while he ran for reelection in Spring 2018.

Jerry “Rabbit” Cox, 70 of Flat Lick, was the incumbent third district magistrate in April 2018 when he sold oxycodone and hydrocodone pills to an informant. Those undercover buys lead to a six-count indictment in June 2019.

Of the six counts, his plea agreement with federal prosecutors left him facing charges on only two of the counts (five and six), which read: “The Defendant sold 10 oxycodone 30 mg. pills to an informant on April 17, 2018 from his residence in Knox County, Kentucky. Oxycodone is a Schedule II controlled substance,” and “On April 26, 2018, the Defendant sold 38 pills containing hydrocodone to an informant from his business in Knox County, Kentucky. Hydrocodone is a Schedule II controlled substance.”

“I sold pills,” Cox is quoted as saying to U.S. Magistrate Judge Hanly A. Ingram in a story from the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Before sentencing, U.S. District Judge Claria Horn Boom must approve Cox’s plea. According to court documents, “The Court recommends that the presiding District Judge accept the guilty plea of Jerry Cox and adjudge him guilty of Counts 5 and 6 of the indictment.” Because of the plea, the jury trial that was originally scheduled is continued generally pending the District Judge’s decision. The District Judge will schedule a sentencing hearing of the court’s recommendation is accepted.

The maximum penalty for both counts is 20 years in prison, and a fine of up to $1 million, as well as a term of supervised release of at least three years, as well as other court costs.

Sentencing could take place in about four months. Cox’s attorney, David S. Hoskins, seeks to keep Cox free on bond pending his sentencing.