COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - A panel of judges has suspended from office a southeast Ohio sheriff indicted in a corruption case.
The decision announced Friday by the Ohio Supreme Court came after Athens County Sheriff Patrick Kelly said he wouldn’t challenge the suspension, which the three-judge panel had preliminarily recommended earlier this month.
The charges against Kelly include theft in office, tampering with records and engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity. Kelly is suspected of improperly using public funds to buy meals and personal apparel, selling county property to a scrapyard and stealing wire from a county garage, among other allegations.
A retired sheriff’s office lieutenant was named interim sheriff until Kelly’s replacement is appointed next month.
Kelly has denied wrongdoing and vows to fight the charges at trial in September.
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