Teh One Who Knocks
02-24-2014, 12:38 PM
The Associated Press
LUBBOCK, Texas—A former Central Texas police chief has been indicted by federal prosecutors, who say he sold and pawned $4 million worth of equipment, including a machine gun, he fraudulently obtained through a federal program.
Federal prosecutors said Friday in a news release that former Rising Star police Chief William Jason Kelcy was indicted Wednesday by a grand jury in Lubbock on charges that include theft of government property. He is also accused of trying to sell a Thompson Ramo Wooldridge M14 machine gun.
Kelcy, 41, served as chief in Rising Star, about 50 miles southeast of Abilene, from 2009 to 2013. His department participated in a program that transferred excess Department of Defense property to local law enforcement agencies.
The program, administered throughout the state by the Texas Department of Public Safety, was designed to increase the quality and quantity of equipment for law enforcement agencies.
Authorities say Kelcy forwarded the equipment to other law enforcement agencies, officers and private citizens with no law enforcement responsibilities.
Kathy Colvin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Dallas, said she could not release information on how federal authorities discovered the alleged activity by Kelcy.
Kelcy is expected to surrender in response to a summons and to make an initial court appearance later this month. Federal records do not indicate an attorney for him.
Rising Star city administrator Darwin Archer said Friday that John Butler started as the new police chief late last year.
LUBBOCK, Texas—A former Central Texas police chief has been indicted by federal prosecutors, who say he sold and pawned $4 million worth of equipment, including a machine gun, he fraudulently obtained through a federal program.
Federal prosecutors said Friday in a news release that former Rising Star police Chief William Jason Kelcy was indicted Wednesday by a grand jury in Lubbock on charges that include theft of government property. He is also accused of trying to sell a Thompson Ramo Wooldridge M14 machine gun.
Kelcy, 41, served as chief in Rising Star, about 50 miles southeast of Abilene, from 2009 to 2013. His department participated in a program that transferred excess Department of Defense property to local law enforcement agencies.
The program, administered throughout the state by the Texas Department of Public Safety, was designed to increase the quality and quantity of equipment for law enforcement agencies.
Authorities say Kelcy forwarded the equipment to other law enforcement agencies, officers and private citizens with no law enforcement responsibilities.
Kathy Colvin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Dallas, said she could not release information on how federal authorities discovered the alleged activity by Kelcy.
Kelcy is expected to surrender in response to a summons and to make an initial court appearance later this month. Federal records do not indicate an attorney for him.
Rising Star city administrator Darwin Archer said Friday that John Butler started as the new police chief late last year.