Kentucky man who shot police officer in throat sentenced to life in federal prison

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A Kentucky man who shot a police officer during a kidnapping has been sentenced to life in federal prison.

Jonathan Lee Smithers, 41, was sentenced Monday in federal court in Ashland. Smithers had already entered a guilty plea to attempted murder earlier this year in state court.

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Federal prosecutors said in May of this year, Smithers physically abused a woman he had been in a relationship with and held her at gunpoint in a car and on foot until the woman escaped after several hours.

A Kentucky man shot a police officer in the throat was sentenced to life in federal prison on Monday. The officer was hospitalized and survived the shooting. The suspect entered a guilty plea to attempted murder earlier this year. 

A responding police officer approached Smithers as he was coming out of a wooded area. Smithers shot Flatwoods police offficer Tommy Robinson in the throat. Robinson was hospitalized and survived the shooting.

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"Mr. Smithers not only tragically kidnapped his trusted partner and led her on a series of terrorizing demands, but he then seriously wounded a local police officer," FBI Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen said in a media release.