Ex-trooper pleads guilty to perjury

Jace Radke

Wednesday, April 7, 1999 | 11:10 a.m.

A former Nevada Highway Patrol trooper pleaded guilty to perjury in federal court Tuesday morning and was sentenced to the maximum punishment allowed.

U.S. District Judge Phillip Pro sentenced John Raymond Kennedy to 21 months in jail for false testimony given during sentencing March 11 on previous federal charges of lying.

Kennedy pleaded guilty last November to charges of making false statements on a passport application and falsely using a Social Security number.

Kennedy, who was fired by the Highway Patrol the day after his arrest Aug. 3, obtained a false identity in the name of John Steven Staran in 1984, four months after the man committed suicide in Illinois. The original charges stemmed from false statements made in 1994 to renew the passport.

Kennedy was given a year in jail after being found guilty of the dual identity, but at his sentencing claimed that the reason he had acquired the false passport was in preparation for teaching a class to lawmen.

At the sentencing hearing in March, a federal witness disputed Kennedy's story and said that Kennedy had planned to travel to Thailand under the false document, fake his death to collect insurance money, and travel back to the United States under his true name.

Federal Judge David Hagan didn't believe Kennedy's story and sentenced him to a year in jail. He must surrender to begin serving that term by May 3.

On Tuesday Kennedy admitted in court that he had lied under oath at the sentencing hearing about securing the fake documents in preparation for teaching a class. He also admitted to helping secure a Nevada driver's license, as well as employment at Wet 'n' Wild, for David Barry under the false identity of John Staran.

"John Kennedy misplaced the public trust twice by breaking the law and then by lying about it under oath," Assistant U. S. Attorney Leif Reid said. "A man with a badge and a propensity to fabricate the truth are not a comfortable combination for the people of Nevada."

Kennedy's 21-month sentence will run concurrent to the 12-month term already imposed against him for the false statement in a passport application charge.