NEWS

State recommends house arrest for ex-deputy

Associated Press

PASCAGOULA, Miss.— Prosecutors are recommending house for an ex-Jackson County deputy in perjury case

The Sun Herald reports (http://bit.ly/1BLPbBG ) court records do not show how long of a sentence the attorney general's office has recommended.

The maximum penalty for the felony perjury offense is up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Sentencing is Nov. 24, records show.

A grand jury in January indicted Ken McClenic, 51, on charges of perjuring himself in a grand jury hearing against former Sheriff Mike Byrd, who left office after two felony convictions.

In September, McClenic entered an Alford plea in the case, meaning he did not admit guilt, but acknowledged prosecutors could likely prove the charge.

McClenic told a grand jury in July 2013 that Byrd ordered him to sign an affidavit for the arrest of Robert McKee on a charge of murder because Byrd did not want any unsolved murders during an election year. McClenic told the grand jury he did not believe McKee had committed the crime.

In September 2013, during a hearing in an unrelated case, McClenic said he believed he had obtained the affidavit to arrest McKee because McKee had confessed and gave details no one else had about the crime.

Following McClenic's change in testimony, Circuit Judge Robert Krebs ordered both the testimonies from the grand jury and the unrelated hearing to be handed over to the Attorney General's Office for investigation.

After the indictment, McClenic was fired from the Sheriff's Office, where he had worked as a deputy since 1985.