Former Nolensville Police Officer Sentenced to Prison

Kenneth Lee, 53, of Nashville, Tennessee, was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court to 12 months and a day in prison, followed by one year of supervised release, for honest services mail fraud, announced David Rivera, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee.

Lee was indicted by a federal grand jury on March 1, 2012, and charged with extortion and mail fraud arising from his solicitation of payment from a woman in exchange for not arresting her. Lee pleaded guilty on July 29, 2012, to honest services mail fraud.

“Law enforcement officers who choose to step across the line can expect to face federal prosecution and time in federal prison,” said U.S. Attorney David Rivera. “The honest, hard-working men and women of the greater law enforcement community are never tolerable of those who violate their oath and abuse their power.”

According to the testimony at the plea hearing, on August 17, 2011, while employed as a Nolensville Police officer, Lee stopped a woman for a suspected traffic violation. After learning that she did not have a driver’s license, Lee told her he would not arrest her if she paid him $200. Lee also acknowledged that he subsequently received three separate money orders totaling $200.

In imposing the sentence, Chief U.S. District Judge William J. Haynes, Jr. stated that he was troubled that the victim of the crime was poor and that a child was present when the defendant asked for money in lieu of arresting the victim.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the United States Postal Inspection Service and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Scarlett Singleton and Jimmie Lynn Ramsaur.