KENTUCKY INDIVIDUALS SENTENCED ON
CHARGES OF CIVIL RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department today announced that four Kentucky individuals were sentenced on civil rights violations. The defendants - Devlin Jason Burke, 23, Matthew Carl Campbell, 22, Jeffery Dean Henson, 23, and Kimberly Denise Hill, 43 - were sentenced after earlier pleading guilty to charges stemming from their racially-motivated intimidation of Gloria Powell and her teenage children, Maurice and DaVonya, an African American family from Covington, Kentucky.

Judge Jennifer B. Coffman, of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky, sentenced Burke to 87 months imprisonment, followed by 3 years supervised release, Campbell to 71 months imprisonment and 3 years supervised release, Henson to 46 months imprisonment and 3 years supervised release, and Hill to 24 months imprisonment and 1 year supervised release. Judge Coffman reserved ruling on whether the defendants must pay restitution to the Powell family.

“This sentencing is a reminder that the Justice Department will pursue and prosecute anyone who targets others because of race or ethnicity,” said J. Michael Wiggins, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “The Department will not tolerate the use of violence and harassment to intimidate minorities living in the United States.”

On February 7, 2003, Burke, Campbell and Henson pled guilty to conspiracy to interfere with the Powell’s right to live in the housing of their choice free from intimidation based on race and color, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 241. Hill, who is Burke’s mother, pled guilty to two misdemeanor violations of the federal Fair Housing Act for intimidating the victims with racial slurs and threats immediately following acts of racially-motivated violence committed against them by others.

“This office is committed to enforcing the civil rights laws of the United States in a manner that protects our neighborhoods from racial violence,” said U.S. Attorney Gregory F. Van Tatenhove. “This sentencing is the right result in response to these acts which our community finds abhorrent.”

In their plea agreements, Burke, Campbell and Henson admitted to engaging in a campaign of terror against the Powell family, who lived across the street from Burke and Hill. Between the spring of 2001 and the spring of 2002, they smashed the family’s windows and outdoor lights, routinely shouted racial slurs at them and their guests, and threatened the victims with violence for living in the neighborhood. One of the central acts in the conspiracy occurred on June 1, 2001, when, after smashing the front windows of the Powell’s home, Burke, Campbell and Henson wielded sticks and bats, and chased Maurice Powell into the yard and attacked him. During the attack, they stomped him with combat boots while yelling racial slurs. Burke, Campbell and Henson identify themselves as white supremacists. Burke and Campbell have had ties to an organization called the Imperial Klan of America.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation. The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky jointly prosecuted the case.

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