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Ex-Officer Released After 18 Months in Prison in Fellow Officer's Death

Former Cobb Officer Kenneth Reda was convicted last year in connection with a fellow officer's drowning death on Lake Allatoona.

Kenneth Reda of Acworth, the former Cobb police sergeant convicted in connection with the drowning death of a fellow officer, is being released from prison today after serving 18 months of his sentence, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

On Jan. 28, 2011, for lying to the law enforcement, second-degree homicide by vessel, and violation of office by a public officer in the death of his best friend Brent Stephens on Lake Allatoona.

Authorities believe Reda’s boat , when he, Stephens and Reda's mistress Shelley Powell were returning home from dinner at a lakeside restaurant.

The group had been drinking, according to trial testimony. Stephens fell overboard and drowned. The autopsy report suggests Stephens' head was hit by a blunt object, possibly part of the pylon.

Reda said he was afraid his wife would find out he was having an affair with Powell. So when Stephens, a fellow Cobb County SWAT team member and a married father of two, went overboard on Lake Allatoona, Reda didn't call 911 for more than an hour, according to his testimony in court last January.

He took Powell, his co-defendant, back to shore and then . He said he’d been on the boat alone with Stephens. He also said that Stephens might have jumped overboard as a prank and could be on shore already.

Stephens’ body was found the next afternoon in the water.

Reda's parole will continue until January, 2015.

Read previous reports on this case.

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yeah July 31, 2012 at 04:06 pm
4 years in prison 9 years probation for killing a man....... So if i kill someone then lie about it ill get a slap on the wrist as long as im a cop.
good to know. GOOD TO KNOW!!! Another reason not to trust the law enforcement of cherokee county
yeah July 31, 2012 at 04:15 pm
i dont think ill be able to speak again with my jaw being so thoroughly dropped.
How can he be out after only 18 months!!!!!!!! Drug charges get longer prison sentences in cherokee county!!!!!! this guy KILLED A MAN THEN LIED ABOUT IT!!!!!! I dont want him back out on the streets. the punishment doesnt fit the crime, I believe once someone has served his term then, ok. you are good to go. But this!?!?!?! he didnt serve crap!!!! i was on probation longer for pot as a kid than he was in jail for killing a man!!!!!!!
Shell July 31, 2012 at 08:02 pm
He didn't kill a man. Read the whole article before you speak and start acting like a crazy maniac on the street!
JustTheFaxMaam July 31, 2012 at 08:29 pm
I thnk this has more to do with the judicial system than with the law enforcement agencies of Cherokee County. They arrested him but did sit judgement on him. Blame it on the court system if you must.
yeah August 1, 2012 at 01:19 pm
oh im sorry he didnt kill a man shell youre right. He went boating with a man, that DIED WHILE BOATING WITH HIM, left him, and then lied about it...... yup... clearly the man that was with him, did not infact die...
NO YOU RETARD HE DID DIE, And reda killed him. if he would have stopped the boat and looked for his "buddy' then he might still be alive but no he was worried about his affair. And yes just the fax the judicial system is OVERLY FLAWED here. but if our cops cant make the right decision's about what to do in a life or death situation then how the hell am i suppose to trust them?!?!?!?!
JustTheFaxMaam August 2, 2012 at 02:11 am
you were placing the blame for his shortened sentence on the law enforcement of Cherokee County in your first comment, not questioning whether the Cobb County police officer made a wrong decision about a life or death situation.Go back and read your first comment.....................

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