Richard Kelly to Resign as Clinton Co. Sheriff...

Richard Kelly to Resign as Clinton Co. Sheriff as He, Wife Plead Guilty to Jail Commissary Criminal Charges

CLINTON COUNTY, Ind. — Richard Kelly, the Clinton County Sheriff, and Ashley Kelly, the county’s former jail matron, have pleaded guilty after they were accused of using a company to receive payments from the jail’s commissary fund.

Richard Kelly pleaded guilty to one count of official misconduct and one count of conflict of interest, each a Level 6 felony. Richard Kelly was sentenced to 2.5 years, which was ultimately suspended to one year of probation.

Ashley Kelly pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of conflict of interest and will serve 180 days of probation.

According to previous reports, the two faced an alleged conflict of interest and official misconduct charges for reportedly not disclosing to county commissioners their ownership of a company that served as a pass-through vendor for commissary items sold to inmates at the Clinton County Jail.

In a civil lawsuit, the two were found liable to pay back the nearly $330,000 they misappropriated from the state through their LLC, Leonne, according to previous reports.

The guilty pleas are separate from the charges the Kellys face in Marion County. Ashley Kelly reportedly defrauded the Indiana State Police’s pension trust fund of more than $205,000 after she continued to work, despite being on disability as a result of an injury on the job as a state trooper in January 2014. In this case, Richard Kelly also faces charges of aiding, inducing or causing fraud.

The Marion County felony charges led to the Clinton County commissioners terminating Ashley Kelly’s employment as the county’s jail matron, as well as passing a new nepotism policy for county employees.

Richard Kelly was also recently charged with possession of an illegal handgun, a misdemeanor in Hamilton County, and Ashley Kelly lost in the Republican primary to succeed her husband as the Clinton County sheriff.

The final pretrial hearing for the Kellys’ Marion County case is scheduled for July 8 and the jury trial is scheduled for July 14.