A Kentucky sheriff charged with murdering a local judge was in a state of profound fear for his own life and his family’s safety, believing he was entangled in a web of corruption, according to his attorney and newly released body camera footage. The revelations emerge alongside explosive allegations of a sex-for-favors ring operating within the county’s justice system, claims the defense suggests created the pressure-cooker environment that led to the shooting.
Leer County Sheriff Mickey Stein is seen repeatedly pleading with arresting officers in footage from inside the Lecher County Courthouse last September. “Don’t shoot me. Somebody going to kill me, man,” Stein says, his voice strained with panic. He expresses specific terror about being transported, stating, “If I leave this building, I won’t draw another breath,” and later adds, “I’ll never make it to the Leslie County Jail.”
The video captures a tense negotiation as Kentucky State Police troopers attempt to calm the sheriff, assuring him of his safety. “I ain’t going to let nothing happen to you,” one trooper insists, a promise Stein dismisses with the weary reply, “I know better, man.” His apprehension centers on the sallyport and the journey to a neighboring jail, areas he implies would provide an opportunity for him to be silenced.
In an exclusive interview, Stein’s attorney, Bartley, outlined a defense that will hinge on the sheriff’s mental state, alleging he was “overwhelmed by pressure, fear, and untreated mental illness.” Bartley directly connected this decline to an impending civil deposition Stein was scheduled to give in a federal lawsuit. That lawsuit contains allegations of a corrupt sex ring involving officials and inmates.
“The civil deposition that involved similar claims was a focal point of the week leading up to this shooting,” Bartley stated. He described his client as feeling “powerless, isolated, and trapped” within a “network of power” concerned with what he might reveal. Most chillingly, Bartley claimed Stein believed “threats had been made against the well-being of his wife and his daughter.”
These allegations of systemic corruption are bolstered by separate investigative reports, including an interview with a woman named Tia Adams who claimed she had sex with the late Judge Kevin Mullins “countless times” to avoid criminal charges. She and others have described the local jail as functioning like a “brothel,” with such arrangements being an open secret for years.
Bartley stopped short of confirming the specific allegations but emphasized their role in his client’s mindset. “I will say that the lack of an independent investigation into these claims underscores the feelings of isolation that we believe our client felt,” he told investigators. He confirmed that claims about the alleged sex ring were reported to the state Attorney General’s office even before the shooting, yet he is unaware of any active, independent probe.
The attorney confirmed that Stein’s mental health will be the cornerstone of his murder defense, aiming to prove the sheriff “wasn’t able to appreciate the criminality of his actions” due to a mental disease or defect. A trial date has not been set, as prosecutors seek additional expert evaluations.
The case has cast a harsh light on Lecher County, exposing a tangled narrative of power, fear, and alleged institutional decay. The sheriff’s captured desperation and his attorney’s statements paint a picture of a lawman who believed he had become a target for knowing too much, transforming from the county’s top protector into a terrified inmate fearing for his life in the very system he once oversaw. The upcoming trial is now poised to scrutinize not just a single act of violence, but the dark undercurrents that may have provoked it.
