Faces 30 years for fraud, theft while in office

FRANKFORT, Ky. — Former Greenup County Sheriff Keith Cooper has been indicted has been indicted by a federal grand jury for fraud and theft. The allegations include that he withdrew thousands of dollars in cash meant for law enforcement funds, took thousands of rounds of ammunition home and use county vehicles for out-of-state personal trips.

Last week, a federal grand jury for the Eastern District of Kentucky returned an indictment charging Cooper, 68, with one count of mail fraud and one count of theft of property from a federally funded agency. A date for Cooper to appear in court has not yet been scheduled.

The indictment alleges that from early 2013 through March 2017, Cooper fraudulently obtained over $50,000 in cash, by making withdrawals and failing to deposit money into a bank account used for law enforcement funds.

Additionally, the indictment alleges that Cooper directed Greenup County Sheriff’s Office deputy sheriffs to purchase ammunition that did not correspond to firearms issued to them for official duty purposes and then relocate multiple boxes of the ammunition to his private residence. The indictment alleges that Cooper unlawfully retained approximately 35,000 rounds of ammunition, which was purchased with approximately $30,000 in public funds. The indictment also alleges that Cooper used a vehicle and fuel purchased with Greenup County funds to take a variety of personal out-of-state trips.

The investigation preceding the indictment was conducted by the FBI and the Kentucky Attorney General’s Office, with the cooperation of the Greenup County Sheriff’s Office. The indictment was presented to the grand jury by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Boone.

He faces up to 20 years of imprisonment for mail fraud and 10 years of imprisonment for theft of public funds, and a maximum fine of $250,000 for each count.

However, any sentence following a conviction would be imposed by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal sentencing statutes.