A former Muskogee Police officer pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court to possession of stolen firearms and stolen valor.

Kris Ledford, 30, of Broken Arrow was a crime scene investigator for the Muskogee Police Department, where he had worked five years, when his crimes were discovered.

The specific weapons charge Ledford pleaded guilty to involved his taking of nine guns from the police property room between June 4, 2007 to May 29, 2008.

Ledford had to tell the U.S. Magistrate Judge Kimberly E. West what he had done to be found guilty.

“I used my discretion to take eight to 24 guns stored in the property room on the second floor,” he told West.

He gave some of the guns away, sold some and bartered some, the government alleged.

“He had reason to believe they had been stolen — he had stolen them,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Doug Horn.

West accepted Ledford’s guilty plea and ordered a presentence investigation report from the U.S. Probation Office. A sentencing date will be set at the completion of that report, said U.S. Attorney Sheldon Sperling.

Both sides agreed the sentencing guidelines indicate a sentence of from 46 to 57 months.

The firearms charge could carry up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Count two states Ledford falsely represented himself, verbally and in writing, on July 23, 2008, to have been awarded the Purple Heart and the Bronze Star, when he had not.

Stolen valor in connection with a Purple Heart carries a possible sentence of up to one year in prison and up to $100,000 in fines, Horn said.

As part of a plea agreement, Horn said any sentences for state charges pending against Ledford in Cherokee, Muskogee and Tulsa counties are to be served concurrently with the federal charges. District attorneys in all three counties were on board with that decision, Horn said.

Another part of the plea agreement is that no other charges will arise out of Ledford’s criminal activities during the time involved, and he will not appeal his sentence.

Ledford is free on a $10,000, unsecured bond. Unsecured bonds are not unusual in federal court.

Ledford is to continue psychological counseling as part of him remaining free until sentencing.

Ledford falsely claimed he was an Army sniper with multiple “kills” that traumatized him and therefore explained his criminal behavior, Sperling said.

Ledford received an honorable discharge from the Army in 1996 and then earned a degree in criminal justice at Northeastern State University, his attorney, Donn Baker said.

“He got far more accommodations and medals than a lot of people got,” Baker said about Ledford’s military service. “But the government felt real strong about filing the stolen valor charge.”

It has been established Ledford suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, which he is being treated for, Baker said.