Galen Kelly
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Galen Kelly (sometimes misspelled Galen Kelley in newspaper articles) is a private investigator and deprogrammer.
In 1988, Kelly investigated the "kidnapping" of Tawana Brawley and dug up evidence that she had been at parties within the four days of her disappearance. [1] Articles describe him as a "forensic psychologist".
In 1992, Kelly was indicted of kidnapping du Pont fortune heir and LaRouche member Lewis du Pont Smith [2]. The trial ended with acquittal. [3]
In 1993, Kelly was convicted to a seven-year three-month sentence in federal prison for the 1992 kidnapping of Debra Dobkowski, the head of the Washington cell of a group called "The Circle of Friends". Kelly had mistaken the victim for her roommate Beth Bruckert, who had been the intended target. [4] The conviction was overturned in 1994 by the appeals court because of prosecutorial misconduct: Assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Leiser had knowingly allowed Dobkowski to perjure herself, and had withheld evidence useful to Kelly's defense. Dobkowski had claimed that she wasn't a member of the group, while Kelly had claimed that Dobkowski set him up by switching beds with her roommate, changing her hair and entering the van voluntarily and later claiming to have been kidnapped. [5] [6] Dobkowski later pleaded guilty for money laundering crimes and served a 21-month prison sentence. [7] Kelly later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was sentenced to the 16 months he had already served.
In August 2004, Kelly was convicted of falsifying a Medicaid application on behalf of his mother, and sentenced to 600 hours of community service and restitution of $5,900 to a nursing home. He had failed to report several real estate transfers made by him on behalf of his mother.[8] [9]
[edit] References
- ^ BAIL BARRED IN BRAWLEY TAPES CASE, Chicago Tribune, June 29, 1988
- ^ Indictment accuses 5 of du Pont-heir plot, Philadelphia Inquirer, 10/14/92
- ^ Cleared once, man faces second kidnapping charge, Washington Times, March 6, 1993]
- ^ CULT DEPROGRAMMER RECEIVES 7 YEARS IN BOTCHED ABDUCTION, Chicago Tribune, October 1, 1993
- ^ U.S. Seeks to Fire Prosecutor in Va. For Alleged Misconduct in Cult Kidnapping Case, Washington Post, October 4, 1994
- ^ Discovery violations have made evidence-gathering a shell game, The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 24, 1998
- ^ Return of the Cult Snatcher, Washington City Paper, September 23, 1994
- ^ Cult deprogrammer must pay $6,700 for restitution, fine, The Times Herald-Record, January 26, 2003
- ^ Judgment upheld against man for falsifying Medicaid application, The Mid-Hudson News, August 17, 2004
