Kenneth Wayne Hafley Sentenced to 18 Months in Prison for False Declaration

CHATTANOOGA, TN—Kenneth Wayne Hafley, 58, of Birchwood, Tenn., was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Chattanooga, to serve 18 months in prison, by the Honorable Curtis L. Collier, Chief U.S. District Court Judge. The sentence was the result of a guilty plea by Hafley on August 3, 2011, to a federal grand jury indictment charging him with two counts of perjury.

The false statements stemmed from Hafley’s testimony in a civil lawsuit against deputies of the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office that he was an eyewitness to a police shooting which occurred on May 7, 2009. In trial testimony in federal court on January 25, 2010, Hafley claimed to have seen officers shoot an unarmed man multiple times, pull him off of a fence, and shoot him again. That testimony proved to be false. According to the medical examiner, the wounds were not consistent with Hafley’s version of events. Witnesses disputed the fact that Hafley was even present at the shooting, and a very brief video contradicted Hafley’s version of the shooting.

“People who take an oath to tell the truth in federal court should know that when they don’t they are subject to prosecution,” said U.S. Attorney Bill Killian.

The indictment and subsequent conviction of Hafley was the result of an investigation conducted by Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, Hamilton County Internal Affairs, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Neff represented the United States throughout the prosecution of the case.