KEY WEST, Fla. – A Florida Keys sheriff’s deputy facing 19 felony charges after her own agency accused her of illegally accessing its databases to pass along information to her teenage “drug dealer” boyfriend was set to be fired Wednesday evening, her employer announced.
Monroe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Adam Linhardt said in a news release Wednesday that the agency plans to terminate Deputy Jennifer Ketcham, who had been placed on leave following her arrest on computer crimes charges at the end of July, effective at 5 p.m.
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Ketcham, 40, of Cudjoe Key, was accused of sharing information about law enforcement raids, fellow deputies and confidential informants to a 19-year-old man she was dating who was, she allegedly said in a WhatsApp message, “dealing dope.”
MCSO investigators found that Ketcham, employed since 2021, illegally accessed the Florida Criminal Information Center and National Criminal Information Center — known as F/NCIC — and Drivers and Vehicle Information Databases — known as DAVID — at least 19 times from February 2023 up until this June.
“Transparency in this agency is one of my highest priorities,” Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay said in Wednesday’s news release. “I am committed to keeping this community informed of all significant events that occur at the Sheriff’s Office and holding employees accountable.”
Ketcham is scheduled to be arraigned in Monroe County court on Thursday, online records show.