Parole Hearing May Be Held This Summer For Legislator's Son

by Tony McVeigh, Kentucky Public RadioKentucky Public Radio has learned a parole hearing could be held in early August for the imprisoned son of a western Kentucky state House member.In a four-page order issued in May, Franklin Circuit Judge Thomas Wingate says Harrison Yonts is eligible to seek parole. Yonts, son of Rep. Brent Yonts of Greenville, has served more than three years in prison for a November 2005 hit-and-run accident that claimed the life of Murray State graduate student Nadia Shaheen. Jennifer Brislin of the Justice Cabinet says a parole hearing for Yonts is tentatively scheduled for August 3rd.“He’ll have a face to face hearing and it’ll be at Luther Luckett, where he’s currently incarcerated," she says.Yonts originally received a 20-year sentence, which was commuted to eight years by former Gov. Ernie Fletcher, on Fletcher’s last day in office. Judge Wingate says Yonts has completed the 20 percent of his commuted sentence required by law and is eligible to pursue parole. The state has served notice it will not appeal the ruling.