Ohio Sheriff Found Guilty of Corruption, Sent Immediately to Jail

Suspended Athens County (Ohio) Sheriff Pat Kelly was led away in handcuffs yesterday after a jury found him guilty of 18 crimes, including engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, reports the Columbia Post-Dispatch .

Visiting Judge Patricia A. Cosgrove revoked Kelly's bond. She said he needed to be incarcerated because he posed a flight risk and his conviction on the corrupt-activity charge, a first-degree felony, carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

Kelly, 64, could face even more prison time if the judge orders the sentences for his convictions to run consecutively. Cosgrove set sentencing for March 20.

He was convicted of 12 of 13 theft-in-office charges that he faced, and three of four theft charges. He also was convicted of perjury and failure to keep a cashbook.

The jury acquitted him of money laundering, tampering with evidence and tampering with records, and

Kelly's attorney, Scott Wood, said in his closing arguments that the sheriff made record-keeping mistakes but didn't mean to.