Ex-deputy jailer seeks early release from prison

Published 6:00 am Tuesday, February 4, 2025

A former Warren County deputy jailer has requested an early end to his two-year prison sentence.

Aaron Bommarito, 29, of Franklin, was sentenced in November on a count of first-degree wanton endangerment, stemming from a sexual encounter he had with a female inmate while employed at Warren County Regional Jail in 2021.

Bommarito was scheduled to appear Monday in Warren Circuit Court to be heard on a motion for shock probation filed by his attorney, Alan Simpson.

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Bommarito was not brought to court Monday for the hearing, at which Warren Circuit Judge J.B. Hines said he would take the motion under advisement before issuing a ruling.

Shock probation is a form of early release available to people convicted of certain low-level felonies.

Candidates for shock probation are typically first-time offenders, and under state law a motion for shock probation must be filed between 30-180 days after a defendant has begun serving their sentence.

Simpson’s motion on behalf of Bommarito was filed Dec. 20, about 39 days in to Bommarito’s sentence.

“It is the position of the defendant that shock probation, given the circumstances and character of the defendant, would not now unduly depreciate the seriousness of the offense,” Simpson said in his filing.

Kentucky State Police opened an investigation into Bommarito after Warren County Jailer Stephen Harmon became aware of the allegation of inappropriate sexual contact in 2023.

That investigation resulted in a grand jury returning an indictment against Bommarito charging him with four counts of third-degree sodomy and a count of first-degree official misconduct, leaving the former deputy facing up to 20 years in prison and status as a registered sex offender.

At November’s sentencing hearing, Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney Kori Beck Bumgarner said that evidence would have shown that Bommarito approached the inmate about a sexual relationship.

At the time, the woman was several months away from being able to enter a drug treatment facility and was given duties at the jail that included work in the laundry room, but she had also spent time in an isolation cell during her incarceration, Bumgarner said in November.

When Bommarito addressed the court at his sentencing, he apologized to Harmon “for embarrassing him and the jail for what I did.”

“It was the biggest mistake I ever made in my life,” Bommarito said then. “I will forever regret it until the day I die.”