By JUSTIN STORY

justin.story@bgdailynews.com

A man who agreed to carry out a deadly shooting in Simpson County in 2020 in exchange for money was sentenced to 35 years in prison this week.

The sentence was handed down Tuesday in U.S. District Court to Xavior Caine Posey, 26, of Logan County.

Posey had previously pleaded guilty to murder through use of firearm during a crime of violence in connection with the death of Brian Russell, 43, who was killed Dec. 30, 2020, at his home in Franklin.

Federal prosecutors said they collected evidence during the investigation showing that Posey and Freddy Gonzalez communicated through text messages on Dec. 29-30, 2020, to arrange the killing of Russell, who was a romantic rival to Gonzalez.

Gonzalez provided the gun used in the shooting along with ammunition, and in court he acknowledged paying money to Posey after he carried out the crime.

“This senseless act of violence took a man from his family,” Shawn Morrow, Special Agent in Charge of the Louisville Field Division of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said in a news release. “I commend ATF Bowling Green Field Office, our partners with the Franklin Police Department and the prosecution team for working tirelessly to bring these killers to justice. Our thoughts are with Mr. Russell’s loved ones, and we hope this sentence brings some sense of closure to his family and that it sends a very clear message that ATF and our law enforcement partners will always seek justice for violent crimes in Kentucky.”

Court records in the case filed showed that Gonzalez had been in a relationship with Miranda Russell, Brian Russell’s ex-wife, for a few months during 2020.

Miranda Russell ended the relationship, reconsidered and then ultimately got back together with her ex-husband in December 2020, court documents show.

Filings from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Kentucky portrayed Gonzalez as someone obsessed with knowing about Miranda Russell’s whereabouts, going so far as to plant a tracking device in her car, which resulted in a stalking charge against Gonzalez in state court.

Posey worked for Gonzalez at a cafe in Franklin, and when the two discussed the plot against Brian Russell, prosecutors said they used coded language, referring to the murder as “cleaning the kitchen.”

On the night of the shooting, Posey was driven to Franklin by Andy Schmucker, who learned on the way there from Bowling Green that Posey was enlisted in the murder plot.

Schmucker drove Posey to a location near Brian Russell’s home.

After parking, Posey walked from there to the front door, knocked and then shot Russell three times before running back to the truck.

Gonzalez and Posey were arrested in January, 2021 and federally indicted later that year.

They were charged initially with murder for hire, which carries a mandatory life sentence and is a crime eligible for the death penalty.

The two men accepted plea agreements that allowed them to plead guilty to a different charge of murder through use of a firearm during a crime of violence, each facing 25-40 years in prison.

Gonzalez was sentenced Tuesday morning to 40 years in prison, while Posey received the 35-year sentence that afternoon.

Schmucker pleaded guilty to a count of being an accessory after the fact to a murder-for-hire, and will be sentenced next month in U.S. District Court in Bowling Green.