Corey Jackson, the former state trooper and last participant in the Knight Oil Tools scandal, was sentenced in Lafayette Parish Wednesday for committing felony malfeasance in office, effectively marking the end of the four year criminal saga.
Judge David Smith sentenced Jackson to two years in jail at hard labor, which he suspended. He also sentenced Jackson to serve two years of probation and 160 hours of community service.
Jackson, 55, is a former Louisiana State Police trooper who was charged for his role in the scheme by former Knight Oil Tools CEO Mark Knight to frame his brother Bryan Knight by planting drugs on his vehicle in exchange for cash and gifts.
Smith said that after reviewing Jackson’s case in making his sentencing decision there were “more mitigating factors than aggravating factors.”
Smith also said that the evidence presented to him showed that Jackson was unaware that there were drugs being planted on the vehicle and that the sentence reflected Jackson’s role in disseminating a government rap sheet.
Jackson was first charged with drug racketeering along with his fellow co-conspirators Mark Knight, Russell Manuel and Jason Kinch in July 2015, but that charge was amended to malfeasance in office the following month.
In April 2018, Jackson pleaded guilty to an amended charge of malfeasance in office, which carried a potential sentence of five years in prison.
In February, Mark Knight was sentenced to one year in jail for trying to get control of his family’s oilfield company by framing his brother on drug charges.
