The suspended Athens County Sheriff found guilty of more than a dozen public corruption charges has been sentenced to seven years in prison.
Pat Kelly was sentenced Friday after he was found guilty last month of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, theft in office, perjury and other charges. The 64-year-old Kelly was accused of buying food and clothing with county money, selling county property to a scrapyard, and stealing copper wire from a county garage, among other allegations. Prosecutors say he began to misspend public funds within months of being sworn into office in 2009. Kelly testified during the trail that he never did anything wrong was guilty of nothing more than poor record-keeping. His attorney said in court that they plan to appeal.
