Last week, several testified in Athens County Sheriff Pat Kelly’s criminal trial. Testimony is expected to continue into the next week.
After two days of jury selection and three days of testimony from several witnesses last week, suspended Athens County Sheriff Pat Kelly’s trial will reconvene Monday at 8:45 a.m. in the Athens County Common Pleas Court — and possibly carry into the next two weeks.
Several prominent figures are still expected to testify, including Athens Police Chief Tom Pyle, Athens County Commissioners Charlie Adkins and Lenny Eliason and Athens County Prosecutor Keller Blackburn.
Last week, witnesses were called from the Athens County Auditor’s office, prosecutor’s office, sheriff’s office and more to testify on evidence presented by Melissa Schiffel and James C. Roberts, assistant attorneys general.
Visiting judge Patricia A. Cosgrove fined Kelly $500 Friday and held him in contempt of court for violating a gag order that prevented him from talking to anyone about the case. That came after a Post reporter Thursday overheard Kelly ask an NBC-4 Columbus reporter if he “was starting to get the feeling (the prosecuting attorneys) didn’t have a very good case.”
The quote appeared in a Friday Post report. Cosgrove warned Kelly that further infractions on the gag order would lead to incarceration.
Melissa Riley, a former sheriff’s office employee, was the first to testify Friday morning. She told the jury she had been responsible for filing applications for concealed carry permits at the department before she left in January 2014. The applications required a $67 fee and a background check for approval.
Riley was asked by Schiffel if she had ever felt concerned about a specific concealed-carry application issued by the office, and was shown an application for a concealed carry permit obtained by Kelly’s stepson’s girlfriend. The document contained no signature revealing whether the applicant had paid, and Riley told the jury she didn’t know whether the department had ever collected the fee.
Angela Waldron, a former records clerk with the sheriff’s office, was next to testify after Riley said she could have possibly handled the aforementioned application.
Waldron left the sheriff’s office for health reasons, she told the jury, and because she had heard Kelly might ask her and other employees to destroy county documents.
Rodney Wright, a friend of Kelly’s also testified Friday regarding a CCW permit he had applied for with the sheriff’s office. Wright continually told the jury that “women in the office” hadn’t asked him for a background check in the hour he was at the department filing his application. Additionally, he told the jury he was not charged.
Wright said Kelly never instructed the women to neglect a background check or fee.
Sheriff’s Office Captain Bryan Cooper was called to the stand next to testify on the 55 CCW applications he said were approved by the office without a $67 fee. Of those, he said, 10 had some connection to Kelly. Cooper told the jury he had every reason to trust Pat Kelly.
A special grand jury handed Kelly a 25-count indictment last January, including 23 felonies.
So far in the trial, which kicked off last Monday, witnesses have also testified on matters related to concealed carry permits Kelly’s office allegedly issued without pay or background checks, destruction of county documents while Kelly was in office, receipts pointing to Kelly allegedly selling county vehicles for scrap metal and pocketing the difference and receipts that suggested Kelly used office funds to purchase suits from Men’s Wearhouse and meals from around town.
— William T. Perkins and Dina Berliner contributed to this report
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