Former state Sen. Brian Kelsey's prison sentence upheld in federal appeals court
Evan MealinsA federal appeals court on Monday upheld former Tennessee state Sen. Brian Kelsey's 21-month prison sentence for campaign finance violations.
Kelsey, who represented Germantown in the Tennessee Senate from 2009 to 2022, argued that prosecutors violated the terms of his plea agreement when they sought a harsher sentence for him after he tried to withdraw the guilty plea he entered months before.
He pleaded guilty in November 2022 to illegally shuffling money from his state campaign account through several political action committees to pay the American Conservative Union for political advertising spots benefiting his failed 2016 congressional campaign.
After he asked to withdraw his guilty plea in May 2023, U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw applied an additional sentencing enhancement for obstruction of justice that prosecutors requested.
Notably, that enhancement only increased the proposed sentencing range for Kelsey’s conviction. The 21-month sentence Crenshaw handed down in August 2023 fell below ranges recommended by prosecutors both with and without the enhancement for obstruction of justice.
Still, Kelsey argued that prosecutors still violated the plea agreement, which said the government would not change the sentencing range it would recommend to the judge.
United States Attorney Henry C. Leventis for the Middle District of Tennessee praised the decision.
“Brian Kelsey pled guilty to intentionally violating federal campaign finance laws over 19 months ago,” Leventis said in an emailed statement. “The Sixth Circuit’s decision today, upholding both his plea agreement and the District Court’s sentence, should ensure that he will finally be held accountable for his actions.”
The three-judge panel at the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday ruled against Kelsey and affirmed Crenshaw’s decision to apply the sentencing enhancement. On behalf of two of three judges, Judge Karen Nelson Moore wrote that Kelsey’s lawyer did not adequately object to the purported breach of the plea agreement.
According to the decision, Kelsey’s attorney at the sentencing hearing said he “think(s) the government’s come pretty close to violating the plea agreement” and “it sure sounds like they’re advocating for those two (sentencing) points, and they can’t do that,” which the judges found “vague” and “noncommittal.”
In a concurring opinion, Judge Raymond Kethledge wrote that Kelsey’s attorney did object but still found the government did not violate the plea agreement.
Alex Little, Kelsey’s attorney at the 6th Circuit, said that he plans to appeal the case.
“We plan to appeal this decision to all the judges of the Sixth Circuit because we are confident that the Department of Justice broke its deal with Mr. Kelsey,” Little said in a written statement.
Even without the sentencing enhancement for obstruction of justice, Kelsey’s sentence still fell well below the guideline sentencing range for his convictions. The sentencing guidelines initially proposed by prosecutors called for between 27 and 33 months in prison.
After Crenshaw applied the enhancement, the guideline sentencing range rose to 33-41 months. He sentenced Kelsey to 21 months in prison in August 2023.
“Notwithstanding the government’s conduct, then, Kelsey received the key benefit of the plea agreement—a sentence not only within the range contemplated by the parties, but below it—so it is unclear how any breach prejudiced Kelsey,” Moore’s decision says.
As part of his attempt to withdraw his guilty plea, Kelsey argued in court filings and during a May 2023 hearing that stress in his personal life led him to make a rash decision to plead guilty, even though he privately maintained he was innocent of the charges. He said he did not fully comprehend the consequences of pleading guilty to a criminal felony and was of unsound mind when he accepted the plea deal due to personal stressors.
Federal prosecutors and Crenshaw didn't buy the Georgetown-trained lawyer was naïve to the circumstances, with prosecutors calling him a "highly sophisticated" criminal defendant and the judge refusing to allow him to rescind his plea.
Melissa Brown contributed to this report.
Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him at emealins@gannett.com or follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @EvanMealins.