A former golf pro in Massachusetts who oversaw operations at a pair of municipal golf courses and was on trial for allegedly pulling almost $1 million from the properties was found not guilty on 18 of the charges this week.
Kevin M. Kennedy, 44, faced the charges after his Kennedy Golf Management Inc., managed the City of Springfield’s two public golf courses, Franconia Golf Course and Veterans Memorial Golf Course.
But a jury acquitted Kennedy on charges of theft, wire fraud and money laundering. The jury did find Kennedy, whose father is politically connected, guilty on one count of tax conspiracy and another of making a false statement to a bank.
According to a story at MassLive.com, attorneys for the Springfield native said he had not taken any money designated for the city.
Prosecutors argued that Kennedy built two luxury homes with cash proceeds due to the city under a contract with KGMI, Kennedy’s golf management company. Defense lawyers David P. Hoose and Luke Ryan countered that, while Kennedy kept cash proceeds from the Internal Revenue Service siphoned from his own company, he never stole a dollar from the city.
“Kevin has said all along that he didn’t steal any money from the city of Springfield, and obviously the jury believed him. It’s a tremendous weight lifted off his back,” Hoose said after the verdict.
“As I said in my closing, he’s a born-and-raised Springfield guy. His family has been closely associated with the city, and it was important to him to demonstrate that he had not taken anything from the city of Springfield. And we continue to maintain that the city has not proven any money is missing,” Hoose added.
The day before jury selection started in the trial, Kennedy pled guilty to four counts of tax evasion. He is scheduled to be sentenced in March.
According to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts, the charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of making a false statement provides for a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of $1 million. The tax fraud charges each provide for a sentence of up to three years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $100,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.