Foley man who posed as FBI agent gets more than 3 years in prison on gun charge

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - A Foley man who admitted to posing as an FBI agent and then forcing a water restoration company worker into a vehicle will go to prison for three years and a month, a federal judge decided Thursday.

Kelcey Jerel Turner, 36, pleaded guilty in April to possession of firearms by an unlawful drug user. U.S. District Judge Terry Moorer ruled that the sentence will run at the same time as Turner’s sentence on a related state case.

Tuner admitted that while he was wearing a shoulder-style holster with a 9mm Glock pistol on March 11 last year, he approached a uniformed Foley police officer who was directing traffic in a school zone.

When the officer asked Turner if there was a problem, he answered, “I don’t know, is there?”

Turner then left and later pulled up to the Servpro in Baldwin County and pointed his gun at an employee, according to the defendant’s plea agreement. He admitted that he identified himself as an FBI agent, grabbed the employee’s wallet and took his identification.

The plea agreement indicates that Turner acted as if he had a radio and earpiece. When the employee asked to see his badge, Turner replied that FBI agents do not carry badges and then pulled his arm behind his back and led him from his car to another vehicle, according to the plea document.

A Foley police officer later stopped Turner’s car in front of his home. Officers seized his pistol, a 15-round magazine, a 31-round magazine, a 50-round drum magazine and 23 rounds of 9mm ammunition. In addition, they found an SKS semi-automatic rifle and ammunition for it.

Law enforcement authorities also found marijuana in the home, and Turner admitted that he had used an opioid drug called Suboxone daily.

Defense attorney Michael Hickman attributed Turner’s conduct to a mental health issue, despite the fact that a psychiatric evaluation found him competent to stand trial.

“Nonetheless, the Defendant’s conduct in this matter is out of character,” Hickman wrote in a sentencing memo. “Obviously, he suffered a serious break from reality during the time leading up to the commission of the instant offenses. He admitted to law enforcement that he had been abusing a variety of narcotics during that time. In addition to confessing to these offenses, he stated that he had been ‘hearing voices’, among other things.”

Hickman wrote that his client previously never had been charged with any felony offense or crime involving illegal use or possession of a firearm.

“Prior to this incident, the Defendant’s only contact with the legal system was an arrest for a misdemeanor marijuana possession,” he wrote.

Turner, his attorney wrote, got his GED in 2004 and then a diploma and culinary training through Job Corps in 2009.

“He has worked in the restaurant industry as a cook consistently since 2011 until the time of his arrest in 2021,” Hickman wrote. “Additionally, he purchased his own home in Foley and was consistently paying his mortgage until the time of his arrest.”

Turner also faces multiple counts of possession of child pornography in Baldwin County stemming from an arrest in March of last year. Those charges are pending in Baldwin County Circuit Court.

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