Richard Kelly (politician)

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Richard Kelly
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida's 5th district
In office 1975 - 1981
Preceded by	Bill Gunter
Succeeded by	Bill McCollum

Born	July 31, 1924(1924-07-31) Atlanta, Georgia
Died	August 22, 2005 (aged 81) Stevensville, Montana
Political party	Republican

U.S. Representative Richard Kelly of Florida (July 31, 1924–August 22, 2005) was an American politician who was the only Republican convicted of taking bribes in the 1980 Abscam scandal (he was also the only Republican approached for a bribe by the FBI). The conviction was later overturned on the basis that the FBI had used entrapment. However, an appeals court upheld the conviction and he served 13 months in federal prison.[1]

In a February 6 interview with NBC News, Kelly admitted that he had accepted $25,000 in cash from agents, but claimed that he was conducting his own investigation; that he hadn't reported the payoff because "I didn't want to blow my cover," and that he had spent some of the money to lead the wrongdoers into thinking that he was "on the hook".^[1]

As a district court judge, Kelly had attempted to reform Florida's justice system by insisting that attorneys appear in court in appropriate dress. Kelly died August 22, 2005 in Stevensville, Montana.