A Kenton County jury has recommended a life sentence in prison for 41-year-old Justin Robert Simpson, convicting him of injecting a 17-year-old girl with methamphetamine inside a Covington hotel room, even as the same panel cleared him of rape, sodomy and sexual abuse. The jury reached its verdict after a three-day trial, finding Simpson guilty of first-degree unlawful transaction with a minor causing injury and determining he was a first-degree persistent felony offender, a finding that triggered the maximum possible recommendation.
According to local12.com, the jury took just five minutes to convict Simpson of being a persistent felony offender and recommend life behind bars once it reached that phase of deliberations. The case stems from a report made to Covington police nearly two years earlier, in 2025, after a then-17-year-old girl said Simpson had drugged and assaulted her. Per FOX19, Simpson had originally been charged with rape, sodomy, sexual abuse and unlawful transaction with a minor.
What Happened at the Radisson Hotel
Covington police were called to the Radisson Hotel on February 19, 2025, after the girl reported that Simpson had injected her with methamphetamine and raped her, according to the station's report. She told officers Simpson injected her with the drug twice, and police observed an injection mark on her arm, the outlet reports. Blood testing later showed the presence of both alcohol and methamphetamine in her system, per the same account.
Kenton County Commonwealth's Attorney Rob Sanders said the girl told him Simpson had lured her to the hotel, injected her with methamphetamine, and then raped and sodomized her, according to FOX19. Sanders said he believed her account and was disappointed the jury did not fully agree, calling the conviction unexpected even though he approved of the sentencing recommendation the jury ultimately reached.
Simpson Took the Stand in His Own Defense
Simpson testified during the trial, admitting he had given the girl methamphetamine but denying he had any sexual contact with her, the station's report notes. Jurors ultimately acquitted him of rape, sodomy and sexual abuse while convicting him on the drug-related charge tied to her injury.
Before the sentencing phase began, jurors learned Simpson had seven prior felony convictions along with previous misdemeanor convictions, the article notes. That criminal history fed directly into the persistent felony offender finding that pushed the jury toward recommending the maximum sentence. Sanders told the outlet that the verdict was difficult to accept despite the life-sentence recommendation.
Formal Sentencing Set for February
Simpson is scheduled to appear before Kenton Circuit Judge Patricia Summe for formal sentencing on February 3, 2027, per local12.com. Under Kentucky law, first-degree unlawful transaction with a minor is classified as a Class A felony when the minor used incurs physical injury, according to Kentucky Revised Statutes, KRS 530.064.
A separate Kentucky case offers one point of comparison. In Fayette County, a jury recommended a 30-year sentence for Lexington man Ronnie Ellis Jr. after convicting him on charges including first-degree rape, incest, first-degree sodomy, first-degree sexual abuse and being a first-degree persistent felony offender, according to kentuckytoday.com. That case involved conduct reported to have occurred in February 2020, when the victim was under 18.
