Name: Former Louisville Officer Sentenced to 33 Months in Prison in Breonna Taylor Case
Uploaded: 2025-07-22T12:36:26.000Z
Description: The former detective becomes the first individual to face imprisonment in connection with Taylor's death, which occurred during a botched drug raid in March 2020.

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A federal judge delivered a nearly three-year prison sentence to a former Louisville police officer convicted of using excessive force during the fatal 2020 raid that killed Breonna Taylor, according to court proceedings Monday.

The sentencing directly contradicted a U.S. Department of Justice recommendation for no incarceration.

Brett Hankison received 33 months in federal prison plus three years of supervised probation from U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings. The former detective becomes the first individual to face imprisonment in connection with Taylor's death, which occurred during a botched drug raid in March 2020.

Jennings rejected the Justice Department's sentencing recommendation, stating that no prison time "is not appropriate" for Hankison's actions. The judge criticized federal prosecutors for treating the case as "an inconsequential crime."

According to the filings to court, The 49-year-old Hankison discharged 10 rounds during the raid without striking anyone, with bullets penetrating Taylor's apartment walls and entering a neighboring unit. Taylor, a 26-year-old woman, died from gunshots fired by two other officers who have not faced charges.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who secured a $12 million wrongful death settlement for Taylor's family against Louisville, attended Monday's sentencing. Crump had previously characterized the Justice Department's no-prison recommendation as "an insult to the life of Breonna Taylor and a blatant betrayal of the jury's decision."

"We are grateful that he is at least going to prison and has to think for those three years about Breonna Taylor and that her life mattered," Crump stated following the sentencing.

Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Ky., in a file photo. (Courtesy of Taylor Family attorney Sam Aguiar via AP)

Federal prosecutors had initially pursued conviction against Hankison for blindly firing into Taylor's windows without finding targets, before changing their recommendation to the opposite.

Under the Trump administration's leadership change at the Justice Department, prosecutors argued in their sentencing memo that "there is no need for a prison sentence to protect the public" from Hankison. They recommended one day of time served and supervised probation.

Though Hankison's “response in these fraught circumstances was unreasonable given the benefit of hindsight, that unreasonable response did not kill or wound Breonna Taylor, her boyfriend, her neighbors, defendant's fellow officers, or anyone else,” federal prosecutors wrote.

The case originated when Louisville police executed a drug warrant at Taylor's apartment, finding no narcotics or money inside. Taylor's boyfriend fired at officers entering the residence, striking one in the leg, prompting return fire that killed Taylor in her hallway.

Hankison's legal journey included multiple trials. A separate federal jury deadlocked on charges against him in 2023, while a state court acquitted him of wanton endangerment charges in 2022.

A U.S. Probation Office report had recommended 135 to 168 months, or 11 to 14 years, imprisonment for the excessive force conviction.

The sentencing memo was filed by Harmeet Dhillon, chief of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division under Trump, who previously moved to cancel police reform settlements with Louisville and Minneapolis.

Four individuals were arrested outside the courthouse on Monday for "creating confrontation, kicking vehicles, or otherwise creating an unsafe environment," the Louisville Metro Police Department said.

Three additional former Louisville officers face charges for allegedly falsifying the warrant used in Taylor's case but have not proceeded to trial.

<em>The Associated Press contributed to this report.</em>

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