Ken Jenne
Encyclopedia
Kenneth C. "Ken" Jenne II (born 1947), is a former Democratic
member of the Florida State Senate
and a former sheriff
of Broward County, which encompasses Fort Lauderdale in southeastern Florida
. Jenne resigned as sheriff in September 2007, after having pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion
and mail fraud. On November 16, 2007, he was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison
.
. His father, Kenneth Jenne, senior, was employed by a utility company, and his mother worked for the Palm Beach County Clerk of the Court. He attended Palm Beach Junior College, where he was student government president
. In 1968, he earned his bachelor of arts
in political science
from Florida Atlantic University
in Boca Raton
, where he served as Student Body President. He subsequently earned a Juris Doctor
from Florida State University
in Tallahassee
. Jenne later served in the United States Army Reserve
. He retired at the rank of sergeant
as a public safety supervisor.
He is also a graduate of the FBI's
National Executive Institute, as well as the National Sheriffs' Institute.
, he was elected to the Broward County Commission and served as commission chairman in 1976.
Jenne was elected to the Florida Senate
in 1978 to represent District 32. He would remain in this position until 1988. Jenne was subsequently elected to the Florida Senate
in 1990, this time representing District 29 and he would stay in this position until 1998. Jenne is credited with holding a majority of the top committee chairmanships in the Florida Senate, including the position of Senate Democratic Leader. In January 1998, Florida Governor Lawton Chiles
, a fellow Democrat, selected him to become Broward County sheriff to succeed the late
Ron Cochran
.
indictment on more serious money laundering
charges.
Several of Jenne's long-term Democratic allies, including former Florida Attorney General
Bob Butterworth
and former Florida Senate President Jim Scott, pleaded for leniency.
Jenne pleaded guilty to three counts of tax evasion and one count of mail fraud conspiracy
and was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison.
. In December 2007 he was transferred to the United States Penitentiary, Atlanta
in Atlanta. Later that month he was moved to the United States Penitentiary, Lee
, located along the Appalachian Mountains
in unincorporated
Lee County
in western Virginia
.
Jenne served most of his sentence in the Virginia prison. By September 2008 he was moved back to FDC Miami, as he was a possible witness in a civil case against the Broward Sheriff's Office involving a jail beating. Jenne was released from FDC Miami on September 29, 2008.
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
member of the Florida State Senate
Florida Legislature
The Florida State Legislature is the term often used to refer to the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. The Florida Constitution states that "The legislative power of the state shall be vested in a legislature of the State of Florida," composed of a Senate...
and a former sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
of Broward County, which encompasses Fort Lauderdale in southeastern Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. Jenne resigned as sheriff in September 2007, after having pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion
Tax evasion
Tax evasion is the general term for efforts by individuals, corporations, trusts and other entities to evade taxes by illegal means. Tax evasion usually entails taxpayers deliberately misrepresenting or concealing the true state of their affairs to the tax authorities to reduce their tax liability,...
and mail fraud. On November 16, 2007, he was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison
Prison
A prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Imprisonment or incarceration is a legal penalty that may be imposed by the state for the commission of a crime...
.
Education
Jenne was reared in Lake WorthLake Worth
Lake Worth is the name of several places in the United States:*Lake Worth, Florida, a city*Lake Worth Lagoon, a lagoon in Florida*Lake Worth, Texas, a town in Texas*Lake Worth , a lake in Texas...
. His father, Kenneth Jenne, senior, was employed by a utility company, and his mother worked for the Palm Beach County Clerk of the Court. He attended Palm Beach Junior College, where he was student government president
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
. In 1968, he earned his bachelor of arts
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
from Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University
Florida Atlantic University, also referred to as FAU or Florida Atlantic, is a public, coeducational, research university located in , United States. The university has six satellite campuses located in the Florida cities of Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, Port St. Lucie, and in Fort...
in Boca Raton
Boca Raton, Florida
Boca Raton is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, USA, incorporated in May 1925. In the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 74,764; the 2006 population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 86,396. However, the majority of the people under the postal address of Boca Raton, about...
, where he served as Student Body President. He subsequently earned a Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
from Florida State University
Florida State University
The Florida State University is a space-grant and sea-grant public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the Carnegie Foundation...
in Tallahassee
Tallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee is the capital of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, and is the 128th largest city in the United States. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2010, the population recorded by...
. Jenne later served in the United States Army Reserve
United States Army Reserve
The United States Army Reserve is the federal reserve force of the United States Army. Together, the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard constitute the reserve components of the United States Army....
. He retired at the rank of sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
as a public safety supervisor.
He is also a graduate of the FBI's
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
National Executive Institute, as well as the National Sheriffs' Institute.
Politics
By 1972, Jenne was a prosecutor for the Broward County State Attorney's Office. Following his time as a prosecutorProsecutor
The prosecutor is the chief legal representative of the prosecution in countries with either the common law adversarial system, or the civil law inquisitorial system...
, he was elected to the Broward County Commission and served as commission chairman in 1976.
Jenne was elected to the Florida Senate
Florida Senate
The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. The Senate is composed of 40 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 470,032....
in 1978 to represent District 32. He would remain in this position until 1988. Jenne was subsequently elected to the Florida Senate
Florida Senate
The Florida Senate is the upper house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida. The Senate is composed of 40 members representing an equal number of districts, with each district having an average population of 470,032....
in 1990, this time representing District 29 and he would stay in this position until 1998. Jenne is credited with holding a majority of the top committee chairmanships in the Florida Senate, including the position of Senate Democratic Leader. In January 1998, Florida Governor Lawton Chiles
Lawton Chiles
Lawton Mainor Chiles, Jr. was an American politician from the US state of Florida. In a career spanning four decades, Chiles, a Democrat who never lost an election, served in the Florida House of Representatives , the Florida State Senate , the United States Senate , and as the 41st Governor of...
, a fellow Democrat, selected him to become Broward County sheriff to succeed the late
Ron Cochran
Ron Cochran
Ron Cochran was a television news journalist for ABC and CBS. He served as the anchor of the ABC Evening News from 1962 to 1965. In November 1963, he served as the network's principal anchor for the around-the-clock coverage of the Kennedy assassination...
.
Law enforcement
As sheriff, Jenne directed a 6,300-member organization with a $638 million budget. Under his direction, the organization was responsible for law enforcement and fire rescue duties in 14 cities and towns, as well as all unincorporated areas of Broward County. He resigned on September 4, 2007 in light of federal corruption charges.Corruption
Jenne resigned in September 2007 after agreeing to plead guilty to federal tax evasion and mail fraud charges after a corruption investigation uncovered crimes in his outside business dealings, federal prosecutors said. Jenne faced a possible grand juryGrand jury
A grand jury is a type of jury that determines whether a criminal indictment will issue. Currently, only the United States retains grand juries, although some other common law jurisdictions formerly employed them, and most other jurisdictions employ some other type of preliminary hearing...
indictment on more serious money laundering
Money laundering
Money laundering is the process of disguising illegal sources of money so that it looks like it came from legal sources. The methods by which money may be laundered are varied and can range in sophistication. Many regulatory and governmental authorities quote estimates each year for the amount...
charges.
Several of Jenne's long-term Democratic allies, including former Florida Attorney General
Florida Attorney General
The Florida Attorney General is an elected cabinet official in the U.S. state of Florida. The attorney general serves as the chief legal officer of the state....
Bob Butterworth
Bob Butterworth
Robert A. Butterworth is an American attorney and politician from the U.S. state of Florida.-Early life and career:Butterworth was born in Passaic, New Jersey, and moved to Florida with his family as a child. He received a degree in business administration from the University of Florida in 1965,...
and former Florida Senate President Jim Scott, pleaded for leniency.
Jenne pleaded guilty to three counts of tax evasion and one count of mail fraud conspiracy
Conspiracy (crime)
In the criminal law, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to break the law at some time in the future, and, in some cases, with at least one overt act in furtherance of that agreement...
and was sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison.
Incarceration
Before being assigned to his permanent prison, Jenne resided in the Federal Detention Center, MiamiFederal Detention Center, Miami
Federal Detention Center, Miami is a prison operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. It is located east of Miami International Airport at the corner of NE. 4th Street and N. Miami Avenue...
. In December 2007 he was transferred to the United States Penitentiary, Atlanta
United States Penitentiary, Atlanta
United States Penitentiary, Atlanta is a medium-security federal prison for men in Atlanta, Georgia. It also has a detention center for pre-trial and holdover inmates and an adjacent camp for minimum security male inmates...
in Atlanta. Later that month he was moved to the United States Penitentiary, Lee
United States Penitentiary, Lee
United States Penitentiary, Lee is a prison operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons. It is located in the Lee County Industrial Park in unincorporated Lee County, Virginia, near Pennington Gap, off U.S. Route 58 at the intersection of State Route 638. The facility is east of Jonesville...
, located along the Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Mountains
The Appalachian Mountains #Whether the stressed vowel is or ,#Whether the "ch" is pronounced as a fricative or an affricate , and#Whether the final vowel is the monophthong or the diphthong .), often called the Appalachians, are a system of mountains in eastern North America. The Appalachians...
in unincorporated
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
Lee County
Lee County, Virginia
According to the census 2009 estimates, there were 25001 people, 11,587 households, and 6,852 families residing in the county. The population density was 54 people per square mile . There were 11,587 housing units at an average density of 25 per square mile...
in western Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
.
Jenne served most of his sentence in the Virginia prison. By September 2008 he was moved back to FDC Miami, as he was a possible witness in a civil case against the Broward Sheriff's Office involving a jail beating. Jenne was released from FDC Miami on September 29, 2008.