The embattled suspended sheriff has been mostly out of the public light in recent months, though he has been relatively active on Facebook.
Nearly a year after his indictment, suspended Athens County Sheriff Pat Kelly will see his day in court Jan. 26.
Kelly’s trial is set for 9 a.m. He was originally indicted Jan. 31 of last year on 23 felony charges and two misdemeanor charges. The charges were served by Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine at a news conference in Athens.
The trial is expected to last up to three weeks.
Kelly has been charged with 13 counts of theft in office, four counts of theft, as well as engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, money laundering, tampering with evidence, tampering with records, perjury, failure to keep cashbook, obstructing official business, and dereliction of duty.
Kelly’s criminal trial was originally on tap for last fall, scheduled Sept. 29. The trial was pushed back after Ohio Supreme Court Justice Maureen O’Connor announced in July that one of Kelly’s attorneys requested more time to review court documents.
During his tenure, Kelly is accused of taking “more than $1,000 but less than $7,500” from the sheriff's office cashbox, according to court documents.
Kelly also allegedly “did not follow his own office policy and procedures for using such money,” court documents said.
Judge Patricia Cosgrove, a retired Summit County Court of Pleas Judge, has officially taken over the case and will be the overseeing judge in Athens at the upcoming court date.
More than 60 people have been subpoenaed to attend the hearing including several people from the Ohio Bureau of Investigation and Athens County Prosecutor, Keller Blackburn.
Blackburn had previously stepped down as prosecutor from the case.
“The repeated allegations and attacks by Patrick Kelly have caused a false sense of conflict,” Blackburn said, as The Post previously reported.
Blackburn recently told The Post he would make no longer comment on the case.
@chelseasickk
cs117913@ohio.edu
