Former Sheriff Pat Kelly sentenced to 7 years

After a little over a month since his last day in court, former Athens Sheriff Pat Kelly returned to the Court of Common Pleas Friday to face sentencing after a jury found him guilty.Visiting Judge Patricia A. Cosgrove sentenced him to a total of seven years in prison. An initial two years for theft, plus he will have to pay back the county for the thefts that occurred. He received two more years for perjury and finally 3 years for corrupt activity with 5 years of supervision afterwards.Kelly was escorted out of the courthouse in handcuffs, and the sentence is expected to begin immediately. Kelly’s attorney said that they will appeal the jury verdict.Kelly was originally indicted on Jan. 31, 2014, for offenses including theft in office, theft, money laundering, tampering with evidence, tampering with records, perjury and failure to keep a cashbook, all of which are felonies. Some of the charges date back to Kelly’s campaign for Sheriff in 2008.Kelly originally pleaded not guilty to all charges. After a three-week trial, the jury found him guilty of 18 of the 25 counts brought against him. He was charged and held without bail after being ruled a flight risk by Judge Cosgrove.Here is our timeline of all the important events that took place throughout the investigation and trial: http://thenewpolitical.com/patrick-kelly-timeline/Alexandra Newman and Austin Linfante also contributed to this article.