Athens County sheriff in court on corruption charges

2/10/2014

ATHENS, Ohio  — A southeastern Ohio county sheriff facing corruption charges is scheduled to be in court.

Athens County Sheriff Pat Kelly was scheduled to be arraigned later today on 25 charges including theft in office, tampering with records and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity.

The 63-year-old Kelly, who was indicted Jan. 31, said he is innocent and confident he will be exonerated.

Kelly is accused of improperly using public funds to buy meals and personal apparel, selling county property to a scrapyard, stealing copper wire from a county garage and failing to keep a cashbook tracking money he received in an official capacity, among other allegations.

The indictment also said his campaign didn’t properly handle and report donations, and funneled money through a personal bank account.