CLEVELAND, Ohio May 16 2013 -- A Cuyahoga County grand jury indicted 13 Cleveland firefighters Wednesday, accusing them of illegally paying co-workers to cover most of their shifts — freeing them to work other full-time jobs or run their own companies while continuing to collect salaries and benefits from the city.
The indictments, which include theft in office and soliciting or receiving improper compensation, might mark the first time firefighters anywhere in the country have faced felony charges for the illegal practice, commonly known as “caddying.”
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty said in a news release that the firefighters each failed to work at least 2,000 hours — about one year — of their scheduled time. The most serious case involved firefighter Calvin Robinson, who had colleagues work 8,456 hours on his behalf. That amounts to about 4 ½ years.
“The public’s trust was violated,” McGinty said in the release. “In addition to not working and receiving full pay, these individuals abused the system and collected retirement, vacation, medical and other benefits. They caused other firefighters to work multiple days without rest. Fatigued firefighters put the safety of the people (they serve) at risk as well as their fellow firefighters.”
The indicted firefighters, in addition to Robinson, 52, are: Kevin Dever, 42; Bernard Frohnapple, 51; Barry Kifus, 40; Kevin P. Kelly, 52; James Oleksiak, 44; Robert Graham, 50; Michael Milano, 53; Nicholas Rucella, 49; Gary McNamara, 48; Peter Corso, 57; Thomas Jurcisin, 41; and Daniel Losteiner, 45.
They each face up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine for the felony theft in office charge. Receiving improper compensation is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, as well as a seven-year exile from public employment.
The indictments come nearly a year after a special investigator hired by the city released his report recommending the prosecution of five firefighters. The investigator, retired federal prosecutor Ronald Bakeman, spent six months probing whether systemic payroll abuses in the Fire Department, flagged in a series of city audits, rose to the level of criminality.
Bakeman recommended Robinson, Dever, Kifus, Milano and Scott Uline for prosecution.
Uline was not among those indicted Wednesday. Bakeman's report said he worked for a private company as a heating and cooling technician and often paid a colleague $100 to work the first eight hours of his 24-hour shifts so he could work his other full-time job.
Former firefighter Timothy Debarr also was a target of Bakeman’s investigation.
Debarr, who worked a second job selling industrial communications equipment, pleaded guilty in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court last April and was sentenced to 60 days in jail — though he was released after serving a third of the time.
Thirteen firefighters suspected of accepting money to work for their colleagues were granted immunity from prosecution and administrative punishment in exchange for submitting to interviews, Bakeman wrote in his report.
Bakeman’s investigation, including a review of all electronic and handwritten payroll records, exposed shift trade abuses that were even more egregious than the audits previously had identified, Bakeman wrote.
Robinson, who records show doubled as a substitute Cleveland teacher and an assistant Glenville High School football coach and operated a child-care center, worked only one full shift in two years. Sometimes, Robinson orchestrated trades that allowed him to be paid by both the Cleveland School District and the Fire Department on the same day.
Dever, who worked for his family’s paving company, traded nearly twice as many hours as he worked and was credited for four training drills during shifts he traded away.
Milano traded more than 2,500 hours to operate a construction company that received lead-abatement contracts from the city and county.
And Kifus worked as a real estate agent and received accolades for performing in the top 5 percent of all Realtors nationally.
"Kifus paid his trade partner to take all the risks while he was a ‘mega-million-dollar’ real estate agent," Bakeman wrote.
Bakeman debunked the defense frequently tendered by firefighters and their attorneys that the Fair Labor Standards Act considers shift trades to be a matter left to the two parties involved and does not require firefighters to pay back traded shifts. A 1993 U.S. Department of Labor opinion often cited by firefighters suggests that a firefighter could pay a colleague to cover a shift as a means of "payback."
But Bakeman pointed out that the Fair Labor Standards Act includes a provision clarifying that the federal law should not be construed to impair a state’s ability to enforce its own criminal laws.
The following were included in today’s indictment:
Calvin Robinson, 52, of Cleveland
Kevin Dever, 42, of Cleveland
Bernard Fronhapple, 51, of Rocky River
Barry Kifus, 40, of Painesville
Kevin P. Kelly, 52, of Olmsted Falls
James Oleksiak, 44, of Cleveland
Robert Graham, 50, of Lakewood
Michael Milano, 53, of Broadview Heights
Nicholas Rucella, 49, of Cleveland
Gary McNamara, 48, of Bay Village
Peter Corso, 47, of Concord
Thomas Jurcisin, 51, of Cleveland
Daniel Losteiner, 45, of Cleveland
Source: Cleveland.com
The indictments, which include theft in office and soliciting or receiving improper compensation, might mark the first time firefighters anywhere in the country have faced felony charges for the illegal practice, commonly known as “caddying.”
Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty said in a news release that the firefighters each failed to work at least 2,000 hours — about one year — of their scheduled time. The most serious case involved firefighter Calvin Robinson, who had colleagues work 8,456 hours on his behalf. That amounts to about 4 ½ years.
“The public’s trust was violated,” McGinty said in the release. “In addition to not working and receiving full pay, these individuals abused the system and collected retirement, vacation, medical and other benefits. They caused other firefighters to work multiple days without rest. Fatigued firefighters put the safety of the people (they serve) at risk as well as their fellow firefighters.”
The indicted firefighters, in addition to Robinson, 52, are: Kevin Dever, 42; Bernard Frohnapple, 51; Barry Kifus, 40; Kevin P. Kelly, 52; James Oleksiak, 44; Robert Graham, 50; Michael Milano, 53; Nicholas Rucella, 49; Gary McNamara, 48; Peter Corso, 57; Thomas Jurcisin, 41; and Daniel Losteiner, 45.
They each face up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine for the felony theft in office charge. Receiving improper compensation is a first-degree misdemeanor punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine, as well as a seven-year exile from public employment.
The indictments come nearly a year after a special investigator hired by the city released his report recommending the prosecution of five firefighters. The investigator, retired federal prosecutor Ronald Bakeman, spent six months probing whether systemic payroll abuses in the Fire Department, flagged in a series of city audits, rose to the level of criminality.
Bakeman recommended Robinson, Dever, Kifus, Milano and Scott Uline for prosecution.
Uline was not among those indicted Wednesday. Bakeman's report said he worked for a private company as a heating and cooling technician and often paid a colleague $100 to work the first eight hours of his 24-hour shifts so he could work his other full-time job.
Former firefighter Timothy Debarr also was a target of Bakeman’s investigation.
Debarr, who worked a second job selling industrial communications equipment, pleaded guilty in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court last April and was sentenced to 60 days in jail — though he was released after serving a third of the time.
Thirteen firefighters suspected of accepting money to work for their colleagues were granted immunity from prosecution and administrative punishment in exchange for submitting to interviews, Bakeman wrote in his report.
Bakeman’s investigation, including a review of all electronic and handwritten payroll records, exposed shift trade abuses that were even more egregious than the audits previously had identified, Bakeman wrote.
Robinson, who records show doubled as a substitute Cleveland teacher and an assistant Glenville High School football coach and operated a child-care center, worked only one full shift in two years. Sometimes, Robinson orchestrated trades that allowed him to be paid by both the Cleveland School District and the Fire Department on the same day.
Dever, who worked for his family’s paving company, traded nearly twice as many hours as he worked and was credited for four training drills during shifts he traded away.
Milano traded more than 2,500 hours to operate a construction company that received lead-abatement contracts from the city and county.
And Kifus worked as a real estate agent and received accolades for performing in the top 5 percent of all Realtors nationally.
"Kifus paid his trade partner to take all the risks while he was a ‘mega-million-dollar’ real estate agent," Bakeman wrote.
Bakeman debunked the defense frequently tendered by firefighters and their attorneys that the Fair Labor Standards Act considers shift trades to be a matter left to the two parties involved and does not require firefighters to pay back traded shifts. A 1993 U.S. Department of Labor opinion often cited by firefighters suggests that a firefighter could pay a colleague to cover a shift as a means of "payback."
But Bakeman pointed out that the Fair Labor Standards Act includes a provision clarifying that the federal law should not be construed to impair a state’s ability to enforce its own criminal laws.
The following were included in today’s indictment:
Calvin Robinson, 52, of Cleveland
Kevin Dever, 42, of Cleveland
Bernard Fronhapple, 51, of Rocky River
Barry Kifus, 40, of Painesville
Kevin P. Kelly, 52, of Olmsted Falls
James Oleksiak, 44, of Cleveland
Robert Graham, 50, of Lakewood
Michael Milano, 53, of Broadview Heights
Nicholas Rucella, 49, of Cleveland
Gary McNamara, 48, of Bay Village
Peter Corso, 47, of Concord
Thomas Jurcisin, 51, of Cleveland
Daniel Losteiner, 45, of Cleveland
Source: Cleveland.com