Former state auditor Troy Kelley sentenced for tax fraud, other charges

Former Washington state auditor Troy Kelley was sentenced for tax fraud and several other crimes Friday.

Kelley was convicted in December of possession of stolen property, two counts of making false declarations in a court proceeding and six counts of tax fraud. He was found not guilty on five counts of money laundering.

Kelley was accused of stealing from his real-estate clients during the height of the housing boom.

Judge Ronald B. Leighton handed down the verdict after a 21-day trial.

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Previous coverage:

• Emails could provide answers at ex-state auditor's new trial
• State auditor Troy Kelley to be tried again for fraud
• Indicted state auditor Troy Kelley fires staffers
• State auditor fraud trial had impact on trust
• State Auditor Troy Kelley faces new federal charges

The trial was the second for Kelley, whose federal fraud trial in 2016 ended with an acquittal on one count and a deadlocked jury on more than a dozen others. The charges stemmed from Kelley's operation of a business which tracked escrow paperwork for title companies.

Kelley's defense made motions to overturn his convictions or be granted a third trial, but the requests were denied by Leighton.

During his sentencing hearing, his attorneys asked judge Leighton for mercy, but he said the outcome was brought by Kelley's own wrong and criminal actions.

Kelly faced as much as 20 years in prison, but was sentenced to a year and a day in prison as well as a year of supervised release.

Kelley addressed the court, but didn't apologize for the crimes.

He expressed regret for the stress it has caused his family, but his attorney told KIRO 7 Kelley still feels like he did nothing wrong.

Kelley has 14 days to appeal his sentence. His attorneys have indicated before that he intends to do so.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Cox Media Group