Former Kansas sheriff who faced up to 10 years in prison for gun crime gets probation
A former Kansas sheriff who faced up to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to a gun crime has been sentenced to probation.
Bryan Whipple, the former sheriff of Ness County, was sentenced Thursday to two years of probation by federal Judge Eric Melgren. The U.S. Attorney’s Office in April said Whipple faced up to 10 years in prison when he was indicted on a charge of selling a firearm to a convicted felon.
Whipple, 48, admitted in a plea deal that he sold a Smith & Wesson M&P Shield .45 caliber pistol and ammunition to an unidentified person in December 2017, even though he knew that person had been convicted of a felony. In exchange for the guilty plea, federal prosecutors agreed to drop three other charges against Whipple.
Whipple was still the sheriff of Ness County when he was charged with the gun crime and three counts of wire fraud. Prosecutors alleged that Whipple faxed fake reports to the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers’ Standards and Training. Those reports falsely certified that deputies had received training, the indictment stated.
He had faced up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each wire fraud count in addition to 10 years and a $250,000 fine on the firearm charge, prosecutors said. Whipple was also sentenced to pay a $4,000 fine.
During his probation, Whipple is forbidden from working as a law enforcement officer without prior approval of his probation officer.
When Whipple pleaded guilty in October, he agreed to immediately resign as sheriff and surrender his law enforcement certification to KS-CPOST. His certification has not yet been officially revoked, according to public records of KS-CPOST actions. Prosecutors agreed in the plea deal to recommend probation instead of prison time.
Whipple’s resignation was followed less than a month later by the resignations of the undersheriff, three deputies and a dispatcher. Ness County Clerk Renee Kerr then took over the sheriff’s office operations. Whipple is still listed as the sheriff on Ness County’s website.
Whipple was first arrested by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation in December 2017 on suspicion of perjury, making false information, criminal distribution of firearms to a felon and official misconduct. He was arrested again in January after allegedly contacting a person associated with his initial case.
After Whipple was charged in April, his public defender argued in court documents filed in August that the wire fraud counts should be dismissed because the victim, KS-CPOST, was not deprived of money or property.