A second member of the Kentucky Fraternal Order of Police has been charged with theft. (Getty Images)
A second former officer of the state Fraternal Order of Police has been charged in connection with thefts from the Frankfort-based lobbying organization.
Federal prosecutors charged Bryan Bogard, former treasurer of the Kentucky FOP, on Wednesday with one count of wire fraud.
Prosecutors filed a plea agreement along with the document charging Bogard, an indication he plans to plead guilty.
The court file says the case is related to one involving Kevin Ryan Straw, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud earlier this year.
According to Bogard’s plea agreement, he was treasurer of the Kentucky FOP at times.
The deal says that between January 2020 and September 2024, Bogard “devised a scheme to defraud” the state FOP by withdrawing cash from its accounts and charging personal expenses to the organization.
Those expenses included travel, jewelry, supplements, meals and purchases from Amazon.
The one specific purchase cited in the plea deal was to Tiffany & Co. for jewelry in December 2023. Prosecutors cited that in support of the wire-fraud charge.
All told, Bogard misappropriated $30,839 — $9,359 in cash withdrawals; $18,014 in personal expenses charged to the state FOP credit card; $1,837 in unauthorized restaurant expenses; $1,066 in unauthorized Amazon purchases and subscriptions; and $562 in unauthorized vehicle expenses, according to the plea deal.
After the problem was detected, Bogard returned $4,000 to the state FOP.
His plea deal calls for him to repay the remaining $26,839.
Bogard was a lieutenant with the Covington Police Department at the time the investigation became public last year, according to published sources. Sebastian D. Torres, executive director of external affairs and counsel for the city of Covington who said Bogard retired from his job with the city while under investigation.
Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, though it’s unlikely Bogard’s sentence will be that long under his plea deal.
An arraignment date for Bogard had not been set as of Thursday.
In the related case, Straw, of Lexington, admitted misappropriating money from FOP Metropolitan Lodge 32 in Louisville and from the state FOP.
Straw, who was a probation and parole officer for the Kentucky Department of Corrections from 2012 to 2020, was president of the Metro Lodge 32 at times and also served vice-president and government affairs chair for the state FOP, according to the court record.
Straw admitted he withdrew $49,760 in cash from a Metro Lodge 32 account in 2024 for his own use.
In 2023 and 2024, he also charged personal expenses to the state FOP credit card and filed false vouchers to get reimbursed for travel expenses that he didn’t actually incur, totaling $57,064, according to court records.
Between 2021 and 2024 he also defrauded at least 10 people by claiming he could get significant returns on money they invested through him, when in fact he had no qualifications as an investment advisor and spent people’s money on personal expenses, according to the charge against him.
That fraud totaled $80,200.
U.S. District Judge Robert E. Wier sentenced Straw in August to 27 months in prison and to pay restitution of $187,164.
Straw’s attorney, Benjamin D. Allen, said in a sentencing document that Straw is determined to repay the victims as quickly as possible.
Courtesy of Kentucky Lantern
