Ex-Kansas City police officer sentenced to federal prison for defrauding charity
A former Kansas City police officer convicted of siphoning tens of thousands of dollars from an anti-crime charity was sentenced Wednesday to just over a year in federal prison, a term substantially less than the nearly five years prosecutors requested.
U.S. District Chief Judge Beth Phillips sentenced Aaron Wayne McKie to one year and a day behind bars after a federal jury found him guilty of nine counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering, according to court documents. McKie was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.
Phillips also ordered McKie to pay a little more than $44,000 in restitution and forfeit about $286,000. McKie’s attorney had urged that McKie be granted probation instead of a prison term, while prosecutors sought a term of 57 months. McKie was ordered to self-surrender on Nov. 5.
The jury found McKie guilty in February of defrauding the charity of more than $200,000 and spending the money on himself, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office..
McKie, who joined the Kansas City Police Department in April 1999, spent more than two decades with the department’s Crime Free Multi-Housing unit, which trains landlords and tenants in how to reduce crime and create safer neighborhoods.
From 2009 to 2023, McKie served as president of Mid-America Crime Free Inc., a non-profit prosecutors alleged he defrauded. Evidence showed that McKie spent at least $200,000 on his own expenses, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
The Kansas City Police Department learned of the potential fraud in September 2023. When charges were announced the following April, the department suspended McKie and investigators forwarded the case to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
McKie remained on suspension until he left the department on Sept. 11, 2024.
