Case Explained:This article breaks down the legal background, charges, and implications of Case Explained: NKY lawyer who hired ‘felon friend’ to go to prison after cocaine use – Legal Perspective
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- Chase Cox, a Northern Kentucky lawyer convicted of hiring a former client to damage his ex’s car, will serve time in prison.
- A judge revoked Cox’s probation after he tested positive for cocaine use. He’s been ordered to serve his five-year sentence in a state prison.
- Cox was convicted of enlisting a ‘felon friend’ to vandalize his ex’s car in retaliation for her testifying against him in an earlier criminal case.
A Northern Kentucky defense lawyer, who hired a former client to vandalize his ex-girlfriend’s car in retaliation for her involvement in an earlier trial, has been ordered to five years in prison for violating his probation.
A March 26 ruling by visiting Campbell County Circuit Judge Jeffrey Schumacher revoked 32-year-old Chase Cox’s probation.
The prison sentence was imposed after Cox tested positive for cocaine and gave false information to a parole officer by initially denying drug use. He later admitted to using cocaine after a lab test returned positive results.
Cox was sentenced in December to five years, with the condition that he could serve that sentence outside of prison if he completed probation for the same length of time.
He pleaded guilty to retaliating against a participant in a legal process and misdemeanor criminal mischief after his accomplice in the case told authorities he colluded with Cox to damage the woman’s car, court filings state.
Attorneys representing Cox have yet to respond to emails and a phone call from The Enquirer with questions about whether Cox plans to challenge the judge’s ruling.
Ex-attorney hired ‘felon friend’ to vandalize ex’s car to retaliate for testimony
Cox enlisted Joshua Baker, now 39, to vandalize his ex’s car after she was the main witness against him in a June 2024 trial, in which the attorney was convicted of misdemeanors.
Just more than a week after Cox was released from jail in favor of home incarceration in his earlier case, the woman reported in August 2024 that her vehicle was damaged while parked in the garage of her Newport apartment building, court filings state.
A racial slur and other derogatory language were scratched into the car’s paint and the tires were slashed. She told police that she believed Cox was involved because she’d seen Baker enter the building.
The woman told police that Baker was Cox’s former client, whom the attorney referred to as his “felon friend,” court filings state.
Authorities say Baker was part of a January robbery and that he later hid from authorities in the Brent Spence Bridge’s substructure during a chase, closing the bridge for several hours until first responders were able to locate and arrest him.
Baker was sentenced in Kenton County Circuit Court to 15 years for the January 2025 pursuit.
Video footage obtained by Newport police showed Baker enter the building and proceed directly to the garage. He stayed inside for roughly 10 minutes and didn’t go anywhere except for the garage.
Investigators said Baker entered using an access code belonging to another of Cox’s friends, who also lived in the apartment building.
After leaving the scene, Baker drove to Cox’s home in Covington and was seen going inside, prosecutors said. Police also uncovered phone records showing that Cox was sent a photo of the woman’s garage just minutes before Baker went inside.
There were also phone calls between them, along with a text from Baker to Cox saying, “here now,” according to prosecutors. Baker later texted Cox, saying, “Call in a sec get money ready,” and sent a screenshot of his CashApp account, court filings state.
Prosecutors said calls and texts involving Baker had been deleted from Cox’s phone.
Judge says attorney continues to ‘not take any of this seriously’
As part of the order revoking Cox’s probation, the judge listed other instances in which Cox failed to follow court orders in his two criminal cases, including alcohol use and failed drug tests.
Schumacher wrote that Cox “appears incapable of following directives of the court for any significant amount of time.”
He added that Cox has been given numerous opportunities for success, “but he continues to not take any of this seriously.”
Cox’s law license was automatically suspended because of his felony conviction in the most recent case. The suspension remains in effect “until dissolved or superseded by order of the court,” according to Kentucky Supreme Court rules.