Prosecution wraps up during the ninth day of Pat Kelly’s criminal trial.
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Prosecutors called their final witness to the stand Thursday in suspended Sheriff Pat Kelly’s criminal trial, and Prosecuting Attorney Melissa A. Schiffel was able to sum up the state’s case in one powerful line.
“Whenever the defendant is involved, money is missing,” she said.
Schiffel made that statement while questioning the state’s final witness, Michael Kaizar, a forensic accountant for the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. Kaizar insisted that Kelly’s actions weren’t just a case of “bad bookkeeping.”
Most funds handled by Athens County Sheriff’s Office employees were well documented, he said, but when it came to funds Kelly handled directly, there was no evidence to suggest that the money went anywhere but his own pockets.
Kaizar was assigned to investigate Kelly’s use of the Furtherance of Justice fund, Law Enforcement Trust fund and the cash box in his office.
Kelly was the primary person making expenditures on these accounts, Kaizar said, adding what first caught his eye was the overwhelming amount of restaurant expenditures taken out by the now-suspended sheriff.
His analysis showed that Kelly had spent FOJ money on 146 meals between 2009-13, and 144 of those meals involved Kelly himself eating. By contrast, Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn’s office had spent public funds on 100 meals over the same timeframe, but Blackburn had personally eaten just five of those meals.
The defense countered that 146 meals over a five-year period was less than one per-week, and couldn’t be proven to be anything out-of-the ordinary.
Kaizar said his analysis showed 56 of the meals had no explanation as to why FOJ funds were used on them, and 10 didn’t even have receipts.
“Do you have credible evidence that whenever cash made it into the defendant’s hands, the documentation stopped?” Schiffel asked Kaizar.
“Yes,” he responded.
The FOJ fund allows for “broad discretion” and only demands that the money be used to “further justice.” What exactly that term means is almost entirely determined by the county sheriff.
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The defense called on their first three witnesses during Thursday’s afternoon session. Pearl Graham, a friend of Kelly’s who is alleged to have assisted him in moving items from the county garage, Jack Taylor, an Athens County Sheriff’s Lieutenant, and Verna Rutter, the treasurer of Seniors and Law Enforcement Together, all took the stand.
Graham, a previous Democratic Central Committee member who supported Kelly’s political campaigns, admitted to taking copper wire from the county garage, but said Kelly had no involvement in the stealing of that wire.
When cross-examined, Graham was questioned about an interview he had with a WBNS 10TV reporter from Columbus, who he told that if Kelly killed someone, he would dig the grave just to hide the body.
Judge Patricia A. Cosgrove grew frustrated when Graham repeatedly answered yes or no questions with explanations that did not pertain to the case.
Graham also admitted to having a county-owned trailer and a John Deere Gator at his home that he never used for personal use. Kelly was aware that Graham was keeping those county-owned objects at his home.
Rutter explained Kelly was never able to get money out of the SALT account without a signature from her or Michelle Williams, his former administrative assistant.
The prosecution questioned Rutter about a handful of receipts that were supposedly from restaurant purchases by Kelly with the SALT account. Rutter did not recall the money being taken from the account.
Defense followed up by pointing out the receipts were from 2010, before Rutter was SALT treasurer.
The defense will continue calling witnesses to the stand Friday.
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