Richard Kelly is the Acting (A) Associate Director for Operations (ADO) of the United States Marshals Service (USMS). Serving as the third in command for the nation’s oldest law enforcement agency, (A)ADO Kelly oversees all USMS operational personnel, programs and missions including: Investigative Operations, Judicial and Witness Security, Prisoner Security and Transportation, Tactical Operations and Dignitary Protection. The ADO advises the Director and Deputy Director on matters related to these divisions and assists with the strategic planning and operational readiness of the entire operational backbone of the USMS' law enforcement mission.
For over two decades, (A)ADO Kelly has been a key leader in the US Marshals Service. Since 2020, (A)ADO Kelly has served as a member of the Senior Executive Service of the United States Government, most recently as the Assistant Director (AD) of the Tactical Operations Division (TOD). As AD, he provided oversight for a myriad of diverse program areas, to include the Special Operations Group, Emergency Operations Management, Personnel Security, and Crisis Services. Prior to this appointment, (A)ADO Kelly held the same position as head of Investigative Operations, with direct oversight of the operational, technical and intelligence support to the Agency’s criminal investigative and fugitive missions.
(A)ADO Kelly began his career with the United States Marshals Service (USMS) in June of 1998, as a Deputy United States Marshal (DUSM) assigned to the District of Puerto Rico. The following year, he was reassigned to the District of Columbia, Superior Court serving from April 1999 until February of 2009.
In 2009, he was promoted to Supervisory Inspector and served as the first operational employee of the newly created National Sex Offender Targeting Center (NSOTC), a component of the USMS Sex Offender Investigations Branch. In this position, Mr. Kelly was responsible for assisting in the construction of the center itself as well as the formulation of the investigative and intelligence support functions that the NSOTC would provide to field personnel to conduct investigations related to the Adam Walsh Act.
Mr. Kelly promoted to the position of Chief Inspector of the NSOTC in September of 2012, where he oversaw day to day operations of the investigative and analytical support units, as well as the Behavioral Analysis Unit. In 2014, he was promoted to Chief of the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Forces Branch, now the Organized Crime and Gangs Branch. In January 2018 he was named the Deputy Assistant Director for the Investigative Operations Division, where he maintained oversight for all Domestic and Sex Offender investigative operations for the USMS as well as the Resources Management Branch and the Business Integration Center of the Division.
Before joining the Marshals Service, AD Kelly was an Investigator with the Youth Violence Strike Force of the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office in Boston, Massachusetts where he provided investigative support to a team of dedicated gang prosecutors. He is a graduate of Boston College and The Boston Latin School.