Louisville Radio: Host Pleads Guilty To Reduced Charge

Jaison Gardner

A co-host of non-com WFPL 89.3 FM's Strange Fruit radio show and Black Lives Matter activist pleaded guilty Friday to an amended misdemeanor charge that supporters said stemmed from a rental car dispute.

Jaison Gardner, 36, was arrested Aug. 1 after police said that, while driving a 2016 Mazda, he cut erratically in front of a Louisville Metro Police detective, who then recognized Gardner as having an outstanding felony warrant out of Indianapolis, the Courier-Journal previously reported.

"While awaiting backup and verifying the warrant, the detective briefly surveilled the suspect and vehicle and also learned the vehicle had been reported and confirmed to have been stolen," police spokesman Dwight Mitchell said at the time.

Indiana court records show the warrant stemmed from a 2003 forgery and theft case out of Indianapolis, which is still pending.

He was charged with receiving stolen property over $10,000, a Class C felony. Gardner pleaded guilty Friday morning in Jefferson District Court to an amended charge of attempted receiving stolen property, a misdemeanor.

The local radio host was ordered to pay $145, court records show, and a one-year jail sentence was suspended, provided he doesn’t reoffend.