FRANKFORT, IN — A new charge against Clinton County Sheriff Richard Kelly was filed Friday morning in Hamilton County, accusing the sheriff of unlawfully carrying a handgun in light of current felony charges.
On April 9, Kelly was working an off-duty armed security assignment in the area of 1721 W. 116th St. in Carmel, when a Clinton County deputy said he received a call from Kelly, according to the probable cause affidavit. The deputy was working at the jail at the time of the call, and he told Indiana State Police investigators that Kelly instructed him to leave the jail and drive to his location in Carmel to relieve Kelly from the security assignment.
Court records do not explain why Kelly was in Carmel “on security assignment” or other details about the assignment or the request.
The deputy, described in the court document as a “special deputy” who works in the jail, said that when he arrived in Carmel, Kelly looked “visibly distressed,” the affidavit said. Kelly then directed the deputy to a desk drawer and told him there was something inside that “needed to be taken care of.”
In the drawer, the deputy said he found a holstered handgun, according to court documents, identified as a SIG Sauer P365 9mm pistol. The deputy said he confirmed with Kelly that the gun was a personal weapon and not department-issued.
After the deputy secured the gun in his vehicle, which was loaded with nine rounds in the magazine and one in the chamber, he later contacted ISP to relinquish the firearm out of “circumstantial concerns,” the affidavit said.
While facing felony charges, Kelly is not permitted to carry a handgun, the court documents said.
“This prohibition applies regardless of the defendant’s status as a law enforcement officer and is not negotiated by possession of a handgun licenses or Indiana’s permit-less carry provisions,” court documents said.
When Kelly and his wife, Ashley, appeared before a Marion County judge on April 14, he was informed he could not be in the presence of firearms.
“You cannot move a gun, you cannot touch a gun, you cannot be around any firearms,” Marion County Judge Angela Davis said.
Felony conflict-of-interest and official misconduct charges filed in 2022 were triggered by the 2021 audit that found that between Jan. 1, 2019, and Sept. 30, 2021, 85 checks had been improperly issued from the jail’s commissary fund to Leonne, the Kellys’ LLC, totaling $190,916.61. In that same time frame, the SBOA found checks were also improperly issued to Ashley Kelly, totaling $32,967.92.
As part of the misdemeanor charge filed Friday, a request for a no-contact order from Kelly was also filed for the deputy cited in the case.
Kelly is scheduled for an initial hearing before a Hamilton County judge on June 2, according to court records. Should he fail to appear, a warrant may be made for his arrest.
Jillian Ellison is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. She can be reached via email at jellison@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Clinton Co. sheriff faces new handgun charge, adding to allegations
Reporting by Jillian Ellison, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
