Sheriff Retains Brad Koffel in Corruption Case

Athens County Sheriff Pat Kelly recently retained Attorney Brad Koffel
to represent him in his criminal case. Kelly faces 25 criminal charges,
including various counts of
theft.

On Friday, the judge imposed a gag rule so that the details of this case
do not leak to the media.

“We’re going to decide this case based on the evidence, and not
on anything else,” said Judge Patricia Ann Cosgrove.

All parties connected to this case are now prevented from commenting on
it to the media. This ban does not extend to the attorneys handling the
case because they are held to a separate set of ethical guidelines when
it comes to speaking with reporters.

At the time of Friday’s hearing, Kelly’s office was facing contempt
of court for failing to produce select subpoenaed records. The judge offered
to rescind the contempt of court order if they produced the remaining
documents by 4pm that same day.

Assistant Prosecutor for Cuyahoga County, Allan Regas, is serving as legal
counsel for the sheriff’s office. He argued that the subpoenas were
excessive and unreasonable, saying that his office had already spent up
to 300 hours compiling more than 40,000 documents.

Regas’ role as counsel for the sheriff’s office ended with the
subpoena issue. On Friday, Mr. Koffel entered as the attorney that would
be present throughout the remainder of the case. The final pre-trial date
is set for August 29^th and the trial date is set for September 29^th.

Read more about this story in the news:

• ​Suspended Athens County sheriff may be getting a new attorney
• Athens County sheriff found guilty of corruption, sent immediately to jail