Ex-LMPD detectives sentenced to federal prison for throwing drinks at West End residents

Two former Louisville Metro Police detectives were sentenced Wednesday to federal prison for throwing slushies and drinks from unmarked squad cars at residents in the West End. One of the detectives was also sentenced in an unrelated cyberstalking case.

Bryan Andrew Wilson and Curt Flynn appeared for sentencing after they both pleaded guilty in June to one count of conspiracy to violate the civil rights of pedestrians through arbitrary use of force, a felony. Wilson also pleaded guilty to cyberstalking charges after using data software made available to him while he was an officer to hack the Snapchat accounts of several women to steal explicit material and use it against them.

Flynn was sentenced to three months in prison, while Wilson was given 30 months in prison for his charges. The pair were each also sentenced to three years of supervised release and 120 hours of community service.

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Wilson and Flynn were detectives in the Ninth Mobile Division from August 2018 through September 2019 when they threw beverages, including the container, at people walking in the predominantly Black neighborhoods of the West End.

The two — joined by others who were not named by the U.S. Justice Department — threw the drinks while dressed in LMPD uniforms and riding in unmarked police vehicles. They would identify a target and then drive closer to the person before throwing the drinks after announcing on the police radio that "someone was thirsty," or "thirsty fam," according to federal prosecutors.

After throwing the beverage, the driver of the LMPD vehicle would flee. On many occasions, people were hit with beverages, and in at least one instance, a person was knocked down after being hit, according to the Justice Department.

The assaults were recorded either by the detectives or others participating, "sometimes from inside the car from which the beverage was thrown, and sometimes from an LMPD car following closely behind the car from which the beverage was thrown," the Justice Department said in a news release earlier this year.

Wilson would then show the videos to other members of LMPD's Ninth Mobile Division, a citywide violent crime unit that came under scrutiny amid lawsuits alleging it pulled over Black drivers for minor violations and searched them — with little to no evidence — for weapons and drugs.

"The conduct Bryan Wilson, Curt Flynn and others engaged in, while acting under color of law, was deliberative and malicious, and it shocked the conscience," federal prosecutors wrote in court documents.

LMPD Chief Erika Shields said this year she would initiate an internal investigation to determine how much other officers knew about and how involved they were in drink-throwing incidents.

"I want to make it clear to everyone, the actions of former Detectives Flynn and Wilson are reprehensible, sickening, and do not reflect the core values of LMPD," Shields said in June. "Their behavior was demoralizing and dehumanizing to the victims. On behalf of this agency, I wish to express my sincere apologies to those affected. This type of behavior will not be tolerated. We owe our community better and this is not representative of the good work the men and women of LMPD strive for every day."

Flynn, 40, had faced up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Wilson, 36, had faced a combined maximum penalty of 15 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a $500,000 fine on both charges.

U.S. District Judge Benjamin Beaton chose to exceed the sentencing recommendations of federal prosecutors.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie M. Zimdahl noted that there were 40 leaked videos of drinks being thrown at pedestrians and indicated not all of the attacks were captured on camera.

She recommended Flynn receive three years of supervised probation, which Flynn's attorney, L. Scott Miller, also requested.

Flynn "served with distinction" in the Air Force for about 20 years, including two tours of duty in Kyrgyzstan and Iraq, before joining the Air National Guard and then LMPD, Miller noted in court filings.

Flynn's wife, Jade, also testified and wrote a letter describing the ex-detective as "a devoted husband" and father of three children.

Judge Beaton, though, asked if probation would be recommended "if the script flipped," and people without a badge and cruiser were engaging in attacks on uniformed officers for a year. Flynn's action, he said, corroded public trust.

Before receiving his sentence, Flynn addressed the courtroom, apologizing for his actions.

"I violated the trust of people I swore to protect," he said.

But, he continued "these horrible incidents are things I did, not who I am. My entire life, I've dedicated to public service. ... I am asking for leniency and mercy."

Based on the federal sentencing guidelines – which weighs several factors including the seriousness of the crime, the defendant’s criminal history and the defendant’s cooperation in the investigation – Flynn could have received 18 to 24 months in prison.

The drink-throwing incidents first became public in June 2021.

Shields said at the time that the officers had been reassigned to desk duty as the federal investigation was underway. The chief later said Flynn, who joined LMPD in 2010, resigned from the department after his guilty plea in federal court and that Wilson, who joined LMPD in 2011, had resigned in July 2020 due to a separate criminal investigation.

While court documents only referred to victims as "John Does and Jane Does," Jefferson Circuit Judge Jessica Green offered more context in 2021, when she was the Metro Council representative for the various West End neighborhoods included in District 1.

"I am very disturbed about the idea of narcotics detectives throwing snowcones on homeless Black people in West Louisville," Green previously said. "I hope nobody makes excuses for that kind of behavior."

Using law enforcement access to cyberstalk

Wilson was sentenced just after Flynn, with his hearing including a statement from one of his victims.

In the separate case, Wilson admitted to stealing compromising photos and videos of women, then sending them text messages in which he threatened to publish them unless they sent more to him.

U.S. Assistant Attorney David Weiser recommended Wilson be sentenced to 24 months.

During Wednesday's hearing, Weiser said Wilson hacked the Snapchat accounts of 25 victims and had direct contact with eight. He published photos and videos of the explicit material "on several occasions," Weiser said.

In one case, a woman almost lost her job after Wilson sent her boss explicit content of her, a court document states.

One victim, identified as Jane Doe, tearfully said in court that months of harassment put her in a constant state of fear. "Bryan Wilson completely filled my life upside down," she said.

After photos and videos were stolen from her phone, she said a screenshot of the video was posted online and the video was sent to a friend. Additionally, she would receive daily messages from Wilson calling her names, such as "dirty slut." She said she feared losing her career and began thinking about harming herself.

Before being sentenced, Wilson apologized to the woman, saying, "the damage I did to you and to other people words cannot fix." He referred to his actions as "disrespectful" and said that in 2018, "I completely lost my ways and I took it out on other people I did not know."

Wilson was able to steal the women's photos by using the powerful data-combining software, Accurint – which he was given access to as a law enforcement officer while working for the department. The cyberstalking happened between September and October 2020, though he resigned from the department in June of that year due to the slushie-throwing investigation.

LMPD said that it disabled his access after it became known it was still active and that procedures have been implemented to suspend others' access once they leave the department.

Louisville police officers in court: These are the ex-LMPD officers charged by feds with unlawful force

While the DOJ has conducted a wide-ranging "pattern-or-practice" investigation into LMPD, the federal government has also charged several other now-former officers with civil rights offenses related to the beating of a kneeling, unarmed protester and the shooting of pepperballs at the niece of David McAtee before police and National Guard members fatally shot the West End barbecue stand owner in June 2020.

In addition, the DOJ announced indictments in August against four ex-LMPD personnel accused of lying on the drug-related search warrant or firing bullets that went into a neighboring apartment during the raid at Breonna Taylor's home that killed the 26-year-old Black woman in March 2020.

Kelly Hanna Goodlett, one of the former detectives indicted in August who has pleaded guilty to helping falsify an affidavit used to search Taylor's apartment, had also been named, but not charged, in the federal investigation into Flynn and Wilson throwing drinks at residents.

Reporter Krista Johnson contributed to this story. Reach Billy Kobin at bkobin@courierjournal.com

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Ex-Louisville Metro Police detectives sentenced in drink throwing case