Perry County woman pleads guilty in gunfire case involving deputies

A Perry County woman has pleaded guilty in the federal gunfire case that put deputies and DEA agents in the line of fire during a warrant service in Scuddy, a development that moves the case toward resolution and likely avoids the trial that had been set for later this year.

Ashley Begley, 31, of Scuddy Mountain Road in Scuddy, entered the plea on June 1 to using, carrying and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence. The plea centers on a Sept. 24, 2025, encounter that began when officers came to the Begley residence to arrest Clint Begley, 41, on a warrant tied to fentanyl possession. Kentucky State Police said the DEA Task Force included officers from multiple agencies, and that officers were preparing to leave shortly before 1 p.m. EDT when Ashley Lewis-Begley came outside armed, fired toward an occupied law-enforcement vehicle and struck it. No injuries were reported, and she was arrested without further incident.

Investigators said the shot was fired as the officers were pulling away, with four DEA agents inside the vehicle that was hit. The Kentucky State Police Critical Incident Response Team handled the investigation at the request of the DEA Task Force, underscoring how quickly a warrant arrest in rural Perry County can turn dangerous when drugs, guns and a multi-agency operation collide.

Before the plea, Begley had been charged federally with four counts of attempted murder of a federal law-enforcement officer and one count of discharging a firearm during a violent crime. The attempted-murder counts had carried potential penalties of up to 20 years each, while the firearm charge had been described as carrying 10 years to life in prison, to run consecutively. The guilty plea establishes that a firearm was discharged during a violent federal offense, but it does not answer every question about what prompted the shot or what sentence will follow.

The plea comes after a federal judge had set a Dec. 1 trial date. With the case now moving toward sentencing, the outcome is no longer headed for a courtroom fight before a jury, but for a punishment decision that will shape how this close call is remembered in Scuddy and across Perry County.