BREAKING: Former MCSO Deputy Sentenced to 37.72 Months After Massive Breach of Law-Enforcement Databases
Judge rejects downward departure; prosecutors say leaks endangered deputies, derailed cases, and led to brutal beating of confidential informant
PLANTATION KEY, Fla. (Nov. 24, 2025) — A former Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputy who repeatedly leaked confidential law-enforcement intelligence to her boyfriend and used restricted state and federal databases for personal reasons was sentenced Monday to more than three years in state prison.
Jennifer Ann Ketcham, 41, pleaded no contest to 40 felony counts and was adjudicated guilty on all charges by County Judge Sharon Hamilton, who rejected a defense request for a downward-departure sentence.
Hamilton ordered Ketcham to serve 37.72 months in state prison, followed by five years of probation, and to pay more than $11,000 in fines, court costs, and prosecution expenses.
Ketcham was immediately remanded into custody.
Sheriff, Police Chief: Leaks Put Officers and Civilians in Immediate Danger
Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay and Key West Police Chief Sean Brandenburg were both present in the Plantation Key courtroom and addressed the judge directly — an uncommon step underscoring the severity of the misconduct.
Both officials described how Ketcham’s unauthorized leaks of patrol locations, search-warrant details, undercover officer information, and active drug-investigation intelligence compromised multiple cases, jeopardized officer safety, and directly led to a confidential informant being beaten so severely that the victim had to be trauma-starred out by helicopter.
Ramsay told the court that Ketcham’s actions “cut at the heart of officer safety,” while Brandenburg described her conduct as “a catastrophic breach of trust that endangered every deputy and officer working those cases.”
40 Felonies: Database Abuse, Misuse of Public Office, Illegal Communications
Ketcham pleaded no contest to:
20 counts — Unlawful Use of Computers, Systems, or Electronic Devices (F.S. 815.06)
5 counts — Misuse of Public Office (F.S. 838.021)
15 counts — Unlawful Use of a Two-Way Communication Device (F.S. 934.215)
All 40 are third-degree felonies, each punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
According to evidence and testimony:
Between February 2023 and June 2024, Ketcham repeatedly accessed FCIC, NCIC, DAVID, and other restricted systems
She ran personal queries for non-law-enforcement purposes
She sent screenshots, CAD screens, and criminal-history returns to her boyfriend, Ryan Hernandez
She warned him about planned narcotics operations and search warrants
She provided intel used to locate vehicles for repossession
She shared photographs of undercover officers — which prosecutors said “directly endangered deputies”
Ketcham was acting shift supervisor during many of the breaches and had recently recertified in FCIC/NCIC with a 96 percent score, demonstrating full awareness of the legal requirements she was violating.
Before joining MCSO, she worked nearly a decade as a judicial assistant, a role that prosecutors said underscores her professional experience with confidentiality protocols — and the deliberate nature of her misconduct.
Prosecutors: ‘This Was a Deliberate Act — Not a Mistake’
Chief Assistant State Attorney Joseph Mansfield said Ketcham’s conduct was “a deliberate act that put officers’ lives in danger.”
“Sharing confidential patrol locations, warrant information, and active investigations for personal gain isn’t a mistake; it’s a deliberate act that endangers law-enforcement officers and sabotages the integrity of criminal investigations,” Mansfield said. “Ketcham knew precisely what she was doing and chose to violate those standards anyway.”
Assistant State Attorney Colleen Dunne, the case’s major-crimes prosecutor, said Ketcham’s months-long pattern of misconduct was “calculated, reckless, and one of the most serious breaches of trust we have seen from a sworn deputy in this county.”
“Every time she leaked patrol locations or shared restricted case data, she knowingly increased the danger to deputies on the street,” Dunne said. “When a law-enforcement officer becomes the source of the danger instead of the shield against it, our office will pursue consequences as serious as the misconduct itself.”
Internal Investigation Triggered the Case
The Monroe County Sheriff’s Office launched an internal investigation in June 2024 after suspicious activity was detected on Ketcham’s agency-issued Panasonic Toughbook.
A forensic review confirmed:
Dozens of unauthorized database queries
Improper access to criminal histories, driver-license photos, and active case information
Repeated disclosures of confidential information to Hernandez
Communications that violated Florida’s statutes governing two-way devices
The breach spanned more than a year.
Sentencing Marks One of the Toughest in Florida for Database Misuse
The 37.72-month sentence is among the most severe imposed in Florida for FCIC/NCIC misuse — a point prosecutors emphasized in court as a necessary deterrent, citing the magnitude of the breach and the threats created for officers and civilians.
Ketcham will serve her sentence in the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections.