Man convicted in Simpson murder case violates probation, ordered to serve 71 months

Published 6:00 am Sunday, July 26, 2026

A federal judge revoked the probation of a man who previously admitted guilt for his involvement in a murder in Franklin and sentenced the man to 71 months in prison.

The sentence was handed down Wednesday in U.S. District Court against 38-year-old Andy Schmucker.

U.S. District Court Judge Greg Stivers had placed Schmucker on probation for five years in 2024 after Schmucker pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to a murder for hire.

“You haven’t been able to take advantage of the huge break you were afforded,” Stivers said while addressing Schmucker in court.

The 71-month sentence imposed by Stivers represented the high end of the penalty range Schmucker faced based on federal sentencing guidelines.

According to court records, Schmucker drove Xavior Posey from Bowling Green to Franklin on the night of Dec. 30, 2020.

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Posey then carried out the fatal shooting of 43-year-old Brian Russell outside Russell’s Franklin home.

While traveling to Franklin, Posey told Schmucker that he had been hired to commit the murder and Schmucker took him there with the promise of a $1,000 payment, records show.

When Posey returned to the truck after the shooting, Schmucker asked Posey if he “got him,” and then the two men drove around Simpson County before traveling to Schmucker’s workplace, where Posey rested before Schmucker drove Posey to a friend’s home, according to federal prosecutors.

Posey is serving a 35-year sentence for murder through use of a firearm during a crime of violence, and Freddy Gonzalez, who was accused of hiring Posey to kill Russell, is serving a 40-year sentence for the same offense.

When Schmucker was originally sentenced, his attorney at the time said that he had completed inpatient treatment for drug addiction, maintained his sobriety, reconnected with his son and established a business.

Since then, however, Schmucker was brought back before Stivers twice on probation violations.

At a hearing in November, Stivers directed Schmucker to complete treatment at an Owensboro addiction recovery facility after prosecutors sought to revoke probation due to Schmucker testing positive for methamphetamine and having access to three loaded firearms in a safe.

Schmucker was arrested in March for additional violations after he failed to return to the treatment facility upon receiving a temporary pass to leave and then tested positive for meth.

Stivers revoked Schmucker’s probation in June, setting up Wednesday’s sentencing hearing.

Special Assistant U.S. Attorney James Chapman filed a memorandum ahead of Wednesday’s hearing arguing for a 57-month sentence, saying the court had to consider the underlying charge stemming from the homicide in order to determine a punishment.

“Schmucker enabled and actively provided support to a hired hitman,” Chapman said in the filing. “All told, the court has bent over backward, for years, to try to help Schmucker, give him leniency and provide chances for him to succeed in life and change his behavior. He has, unfortunately, squandered those opportunities and broken – shattered, really – the court’s trust time and time again.”

Federal public defender Chasity Beyl said that Schmucker had been doing well on probation before entering into a relationship with another person in addiction, and requested the court impose a sentence of 12 months and one day.

Schmucker also addressed the court, acknowledging the violations that led to his arrest and regret for his involvement in the homicide.

“If I had been in my right mind, I never would have been a part of it,” Schmucker said of the shooting. “It messed me up…for myself to be successful, I have to set boundaries and I have to stand firm on them.”

Chapman called as a witness Russell’s wife, Miranda Russell, who urged Stivers to impose the maximum sentence allowed under the law.

“You do need to do some serious soul-searching,” Russell said to Schmucker.