Former deputy pleads guilty in killing of sheriff

SOMERSET, Ky. -- A former sheriff's deputy pleaded guilty Wednesday to helping plot the assassination of his chief political rival -- an incumbent sheriff killed by a sniper at a campaign rally fish fry.

Jeff Morris, 36, pleaded guilty to complicity to commit murder and will be sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of parole for 25 years. If convicted at trial, he could have faced the death penalty.

The plea leaves just one defendant in the case, Kenneth White, a campaign donor to Morris who allegedly was angered by the longtime sheriff's anti-drug efforts.

The gunman pleaded guilty earlier.

Sheriff Sam Catron, 48, was killed April 13, 2002, just after making a campaign speech outside a rural fire station. He was struck in the head by a single bullet fired from a hillside.

Morris told the judge Wednesday that he had accepted campaign contributions from White. "He came up with a plan to kill the sheriff. I was in fear of my family's life so I went along with it," Morris said.

Catron's family said they had agreed to the plea deal.

"The most important thing is that justice has been done," said Sheriff Todd Wood, who was elected in November and endorsed by Catron's family. "This is the way the Catron family wanted it, and we have to support that."

Morris also admitted giving Danny Shelley, the triggerman in the case, his motorcycle as a getaway vehicle.

Shelley was arrested the night of the shooting after he crashed the motorcycle, which witnesses had seen speeding from the area. Morris was arrested the next day.

Shelley previously pleaded guilty and was spared the death penalty. White faces the possibility of the death penalty if convicted at trial, scheduled in November.

Commonwealth's Attorney Eddy Montgomery said the sentence recommended in the plea agreement is one of the toughest possible, short of death and life without possibility of parole.

"If the family is satisfied with the outcome, then I'm satisfied," Montgomery said.