Covington man, already serving time for murder, sentenced for shooting at police officers
A Covington man, already convicted of murder in a double homicide, received a decades-long prison sentence for firing a handgun at two Kenton County officers, before being shot himself, outside a Newport gym in June 2021.
On Tuesday, 26-year-old Jacob C. Roberts was sentenced by Campbell County Circuit Judge Daniel Zalla to 20 years in prison for the attempt on those officers' lives.
Roberts pleaded guilty in May to attempted murder of a peace officer and possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, court records show. He's already serving a life sentence for the May 28, 2021, shooting deaths of Dillon Carpenter and Madison Klups.
Roberts' public defender, Rodney Barnes, described those killings as a "drug deal robbery gone bad."
Prosecutors in that case had signaled their intent to pursue the death penalty, but they ultimately settled for a sentence of life without parole in exchange for Roberts' guilty plea, court records show.
His sentence in Campbell County will run concurrent to his life sentence, Barnes said.
Roberts' confrontation with Kenton County police happened just after 5 a.m. on June 13, 2021, when Sgt. Paul Roemer and officer Jason Deacon pursued Roberts, who was driving a 2008 Chevrolet Cobalt, into a shopping center parking lot in front of a Planet Fitness in Newport, according to Kentucky State Police.
Roberts exited his vehicle and shot the marked police cruiser and both officers returned fire, police said.
He was treated at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center for multiple gunshot wounds, including one to the head, his attorneys have said in court filings. Roberts was released from the hospital five days later and taken into police custody.
Less than an hour before the Newport incident, police said, Roberts pointed a gun in the face of a Boone County deputy, who was responding to a complaint about drug activity in Walton.
The sheriff's office said the deputy was able to push the weapon away, but Roberts pointed the gun at another deputy before fleeing. He was charged in Boone County in connection with that incident as well, but prosecutors moved to dismiss those charges, court records show.
"He accepted responsibility," Barnes said of his client, adding that Roberts wants to "move on and have life, for what it's worth, in prison."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Convicted killer sentenced for shooting at officers outside Newport gym
