Former Rising Star, Texas Police Chief William Kelcy Indicted on Theft Charges

The former police chief of a Texas city has been indicted on Theft of Government Property and Firearm charges.

William Jason Kelcy, former chief of the Rising Star Police Department, was charged with one count of theft of government property and one count of theft of a machine gun.

The 41-year-old Kelcy is expected to self-surrender and make an initial appearance before a U.S. Magistrate later this month.

Kelcy served as chief of police of the Rising Star Police Department from June 2009 until January 10^th, 2013. Rising Star is about 55 miles southeast of Abilene in Eastland County.

According to Count One of the indictment, Kelcy is believed to have made false representation about the intended use of equipment, and sought more than $4 million worth of property and equipment from a federal program.

The U.S. Attorney’s office says that Kelcy sold, traded, and pawned several high-value military surplus items. Count Two of the indictment alleges that Kelcy also attempted to sell or pawn a Thompson Ramo Wooldridge M14 machine gun.

Kelcy faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine on each count.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda Burch of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Lubbock is in charge of the prosecution.