Nov. 19--ST. LOUIS --Kinloch Fire Protection Chief Darran Kelley was sentenced in federal court here Tuesday to 33 months in prison and ordered to repay $259,738, prosecutors said.
Kelley, 47, of Ferguson, took roughly $140,000 from the district and another $120,000 through disability payments after he claimed to be too disabled to work, prosecutors said.
He made unauthorized cash withdrawals to fund gambling and the purchase of personal items, they said. He also paid his personal credit card bill, and embezzled part of a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant to pay for a fire engine.
While Kelley looted the district's bank account, basic bills for electric, water, phone and communications went unpaid, prosecutors said, to the point where some were cut off.
Kelley also received disability benefit payments for an unspecified personal medical condition, and failed to report his income from the chief's job, they said.
Kelley pleaded guilty in July to three felony counts of wire fraud, one felony count of federal program theft and one felony count of making false statements.
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