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48 year-old Jerry Lee Kelly Jr. turned himself in at the Washington County Detention Center on a Felony Arrest warrant issued by the 11th Judicial District Attorney’s Office Monday night.  The warrant charges Kelly with three counts of embezzlement of state property plus an additional misdemeanor charge of embezzlement.

 

Charges on the warrant include:

 

 

Kelly formerly served as Captain of the Bartlesville Police Reserves and Explorers programs. Those are volunteer non-profit programs that provide community outreach and assist police officers in the course of their duties. Both programs were operated under Kelly's direct supervision until he was suspended from that role in December pending the outcome of an internal investigation regarding program operations and questionable charges to the Bartlesville Police Explorers Arvest Bank debit card.  Those purchases include soft drinks, cigarettes and candy at local convenience stores on Oct. 28th. The investigation ultimately revealed other improper purchases and checks written on the Bartlesville Police Reserves account that were deposited into Kelly’s personal bank account.

 

These issues came to light after then-newly appointed Police Chief Tracy Roles began reviewing reserve/explorer operations and requested that Kelly provide financial documents and equipment related to the program. Kelly declined to provide both despite numerous requests.

 

The police department requested a multi-county grand jury issue a subpoena for Arvest Bank records for the Bartlesville Police Reserves and Bartlesville Police Explorers bank accounts. The multi-county grand jury issued a subpoena for these records in January dating back five years for the reserve program and approximately one year for the explorers program.

 

Records show that a check was written on the reserve account and deposited into Kelly’s personal checking account in April to May 2015 in the amount of $1,750.00. It appears Kelly was using the Police Reserve funds to cover checks he had written out of his personal account. Additionally, there were other checks written on the Bartlesville Police Reserves account to reserve members. There is no record of these funds being returned to the Bartlesville Police Reserves account. 

 

Chief Roles says while the investigation is ongoing, steps have been taken to provide more stringent oversight and strengthen transparency concerning the reserve and explorer programs.