Richard Kelly (July 31, 1924 – August 22, 2005) was an American politician from

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. He was a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

. He was convicted of taking bribes in the 1980

Abscam Abscam (sometimes written ABSCAM) was an FBI sting operation in the late 1970s and early 1980s that led to the convictions of seven members of the United States Congress, among others, for bribery and corruption. The two-year investigation initi ...

scandal.

Early life and career

Kelly was born July 31, 1924, in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, Georgia, his mother abandoned him in an orphanage at an early age. He attended a one-room school in Crystal Springs. He served in the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

from 1942 to 1946, attended Colorado State College of Education and Vanderbilt College of Law, and graduated from the

University of Florida College of Law The University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law (UF Law) is the law school of the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest operating public law school in Florida, and second oldest overall ...

in Florida with a

Juris Doctor The Juris Doctor (J.D. or JD), also known as Doctor of Jurisprudence (J.D., JD, D.Jur., or DJur), is a graduate-entry professional degree in law and one of several Doctor of Law degrees. The J.D. is the standard degree obtained to practice law ...

in 1952.KELLY, Richard (1924-2005)
''

Biographical Directory of the United States Congress The ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress'' (Bioguide) is a biographical dictionary of all present and former members of the United States Congress and its predecessor, the Continental Congress. Also included are Delegates from ...

''. While in Colorado, he married for the first of five times. He was admitted to the Florida bar the same year and practiced in

Zephyrhills Zephyrhills is a city in Pasco County, Florida, United States. The population was counted at 17,194 in the 2020 census. It is a suburb of the Tampa Bay Metropolitan Statistical Area. Zephyrhills is also known as the headquarters of the Zephyrhil ...

. In 1953, he became city attorney of Zephyrhills and worked from 1956 to 1959 as senior assistant to the

United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida (in case citations, S.D. Fla. or S.D. Fl.) is the federal United States district court with territorial jurisdiction over the southern part of the state of Florida.. Appeal ...

. Kelly was appointed circuit judge of the sixth judicial circuit of Florida and served from 1960 to 1974, when he was elected to the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

as a

. Kelly twice survived

impeachment Impeachment is the process by which a legislative body or other legally constituted tribunal initiates charges against a public official for misconduct. It may be understood as a unique process involving both political and legal elements. In ...

efforts to remove his as a judge. This included the passage of an impeachment in the State House in 1963, with him being acquitted in his

impeachment trial An impeachment trial is a trial that functions as a component of an impeachment. Several governments utilize impeachment trials as a part of their processes for impeachment, but differ as to when in the impeachment process trials take place and how ...

of the charges detailed in the

articles of impeachment Impeachment in the United States is the process by which a legislature may bring charges against an officeholder for misconduct alleged to have been committed with a penalty of removal. Impeachment may also occur at the state level if the st ...

. Troubled by accusations of insanity in the 1970s, Kelly allowed himself to be examined by doctors, who declared him sane, allowing him to boast that he was "the only Congressman officially certified as not cuckoo." He served three terms in the House of Representatives, starting in 1975. He opposed

Food Stamps In the United States, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program, is a federal program that provides food-purchasing assistance for low- and no-income people. It is a federal aid program, ad ...

, aid to the failing

Chrysler Corporation Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...

and financially troubled

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He attributed

New York City fiscal crisis New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

to the pay for police and firefighters and aid to poor people: "The unions have forced industry out of the city. The uniformed services are the highest-paid in the U.S. of A. And welfare? City politicians keep jacking up the rates to get the ghetto vote. No doubt about it."

Abscam scandal and later life

In 1980, Kelly was involved in the FBI undercover

scandal and failed to win renomination, losing to Republican

Bill McCollum Ira William McCollum Jr. (born July 12, 1944) is an American lawyer and Republican Party politician. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1981 to 2001, representing Florida's 5th congressional district, which was l ...

. Kelly was the only Republican member of the House to vote against the expulsion of fellow Abscam target Michael Myers (D-PA). Myers was expelled by a 376-30 vote on October 2, 1980, the House's first expulsion since 1861. Kelly was convicted of taking $25,000 in bribes. He claimed he had conducted his own undercover operation and spent part of the money to maintain that cover, but was convicted and served thirteen months of a 6 to 18 month sentence at the federal prison camp at Eglin Air Force Base. During his third term, he also divorced his wife and married his secretary. He was released from a halfway house in 1986. Kelly died August 22, 2005, in Stevensville, Montana after suffering for years with

Pick's disease Frontotemporal dementia (FTD), or frontotemporal degeneration disease, or frontotemporal neurocognitive disorder, encompasses several types of dementia involving the progressive degeneration of frontal and temporal lobes. FTDs broadly present as ...

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kelly, Richard 1924 births 2005 deaths 20th-century American judges 20th-century American lawyers 20th-century American politicians Abscam Assistant United States Attorneys Deaths from Pick's disease Deaths from dementia in Montana Florida politicians convicted of crimes Florida state court judges Fredric G. Levin College of Law alumni People from Stevensville, Montana People from Zephyrhills, Florida Politicians convicted of bribery under 18 U.S.C. § 201 Politicians convicted of conspiracy to defraud the United States Politicians convicted under the Travel Act Politicians from Atlanta Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Florida United States Marine Corps personnel of World War II University of Northern Colorado alumni Vanderbilt University Law School alumni United States judges impeached by state or territorial governments

Early life and career

Abscam scandal and later life

See also

References

External links