A U.S. district judge at East St. Louis sentenced a man from St. Peters, Missouri, to 188 months in federal prison after he admitted to kidnapping his pregnant girlfriend at gun point and driving to Fairview Heights to force her into obtaining an abortion.
42-year-old Kevin L. Smith pleaded guilty to one count of kidnapping. In addition to imprisonment, he will serve three years of supervised release. He was sentenced on Oct. 1.
According to court documents, Smith kidnapped his pregnant girlfriend from her job in St. Charles, Missouri, and drove her to Planned Parenthood in Fairview Heights to force her to obtain an abortion on Dec. 7, 2022. During the car ride, he used a loaded firearm to intimidate and threaten to kill the victim by shooting her in the head.
Court documents explain Smith faced higher sentencing penalties, because he repeatedly harassed the victim and continued to threaten her from jail.
The Fairview Heights Police Department led the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorney John Trippi prosecuted the case.
