Former Gwinnett County Commissioner Kevin Kenerly will spend no time in jail for bribery and other charges under a plea agreement approved Tuesday.
Kenerly pleaded “no contest” to a bribery charge, meaning he did not admit he was guilty.
Superior Court Judge Karen Beyers accepted Kenerly’s plea and sentenced him to 10 years of probation and a $10,000 fine at the request of District Attorney Danny Porter.
As part of the plea deal, Porter dropped two misdemeanor charges of failure to disclose a financial interest in two properties the county rezoned.
The district attorney cited the uncertainty of proving the bribery charge at trial and the health of Kenerly’s wife, who has stage-4 breast cancer. The couple has children who would have to be cared for if Kenerly was in prison when his wife passed away, Porter told the judge.
Kenerly maintained his innocence at a press conference after the hearing. He said he would rather spend his energy taking care of his family than proving his innocence in court.
Porter dismissed Kenerly’s claims to innocence.
“He can deny all the way to the probation office,” Porter said.
Kenerly was initially charged four years ago with one felony count of bribery and two misdemeanor counts of failing to disclose a financial interest in properties the county rezoned. The bribery charge stemmed from $1 million in payments he accepted from developer David Jenkins beginning in 2007.
Porter has said the payments were a bribe for Kenerly to arrange for Gwinnett to buy land owned by Jenkins for the expansion of Rabbit Hill Park in Dacula.
Kenerly has maintained the money he received from Jenkins was to cash out of a business partnership with the developer. Jenkins, who was granted immunity from prosecution if he answered questions truthfully, told investigators the payments were not related to the land purchase.
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