Former Louisville officer ordered to report to prison this week

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (ABC36 NEWS NOW) — Former Louisville Metro Police detective Brett Hankison, convicted of using excessive force during the 2020 raid that killed Breonna Taylor, is set to report to prison this week.

According to ABC affiliate WHAS 11 News, Hankison was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison in July after a jury found him guilty of firing 10 shots into Taylor’s apartment during the botched raid. None of the bullets struck anyone, but some rounds entered a neighboring apartment, narrowly missing the occupants.

Hankison had asked to remain free while appealing his conviction, but U.S. District Judge Rebecca Grady Jennings denied the request Monday, ruling that he “failed to demonstrate a substantial question of law or fact material to his appeal.”

His first federal trial ended in a mistrial in 2023, and he was acquitted of state charges in 2022. Despite a Justice Department request for no prison time, Judge Jennings imposed the 33-month sentence, criticizing the DOJ’s position as too lenient.

Hankison is scheduled to report to federal prison this Thursday.