MACHIAS, Maine — The supervisor of the Washington County Jail and the jail’s clerk have been suspended pending the results of an investigation into possible misuse of jail funds, according to Washington County Sheriff Donnie Smith.
Capt. Robert Gross, who has overseen the county’s jail operations for many years, and Jail Clerk Sgt. Karina Richardson were suspended with pay this week while authorities investigate discrepancies in the jail’s inmate benefit account, Smith said Friday.
That account collects and disburses funds deposited by jail inmates or others on their behalf to purchase telephone time, cable TV services, snacks, stationery, stamps and other approved commissary items.
“It looks from my preliminary investigation, and I’m not a financial guy, that this has been going on for many years and may involve thousands of dollars,” Smith told The Bangor Daily News Friday morning. “I’m working with the county treasurer on this, and we are bringing in an independent investigator.”
The investigator, Waterville attorney Peter Marchesi, is a former attorney for Washington County. Marchesi could not be reached to comment Friday morning. Nor could Gross or Richardson, who Smith said both reside in East Machias.
Smith said the state’s Department of Corrections did an audit of the 48-bed jail’s finances in 2011 and determined then that the handling of the inmate benefit account was “in compliance.”
“It’s hard to believe that 2011 audit didn’t find something because, when I looked at it, the whole thing didn’t look right to me,” he said. “I’m not saying these two people are guilty of anything. The reason we provide suspension with pay is that we want to preserve what we have, and they’re not out anything while we look into this further. At this point this is a moving target.”
Smith said he has notified the office of the Maine Attorney General about the situation.
Smith said Friday he briefed Chris Gardner, the chairman of the county’s Board of Commissioners, on the situation. Gardner said Friday the board has scheduled a special meeting at 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 3, to discuss the ongoing investigation.
“The commissioners applaud the sheriff’s efforts to look into this,” Gardner told The Bangor Daily News. “We stand by his willingness to get to the bottom of this. I know very little of the specifics, beyond what the sheriff told me by phone and some investigative materials I was provided.”
Gardner said he expects both Gross and Richardson will attend the Jan. 3 meeting. He also expects that, as a personnel issue, the meeting to be closed to the public.
Smith recently suspended another jail employee, Troy Lyons, 39, of Lubec, who had worked at the county jail as a corrections officer for 12 years and had recently been promoted to the rank of sergeant.
Lyons claimed he was injured during an Oct. 29 assault behind the jail facility and was treated for cuts, bruises and other injuries that night at Down East Community Hospital in Machias.
Smith suspended Lyons with pay after an in-house investigation concluded that the multiple injuries for which Lyons was treated were self-inflicted. Lyons has denied that allegation.
Last week, just hours before a termination hearing before the Board of Commissioners, Lyons resigned.
Smith said this week’s suspension of two top jail officials couldn’t have happened at a worse time, given the recent loss of Lyons and other sheriff’s department staff being away from work on long-scheduled holiday vacations.
Arent the cops supposed to be the good guys. Theyll get. A slap on the wrist,
Why not have the State Police or AG investigate at no cost to the County? Oh that’s right, Sheriff would have no control and would rather pay an attorney at the tax payers expense.
Perhaps the sheriff has something to hide, and the “private investigator” serves to protect his interests and not the interests of the taxpayers. Speculation on my part, but seems to fit the bill.
Peter Marchesi, well let’s hope he works faster in the investigation than he did trying to rewrite a few paragraphs in union contracts. This could take a couple of years if he hasn’t speeded up.
Sometime the only difference between a jailer and an inmate is which side of the bars he stands on. Pretty weak scam to be ripping off the little 5 & 10 dollar canteen account, not even worth the effort in exchange for a steady job with bennies.
Stealing from crooks ……in jail ??
Leave it to the “rocket surgeons” at Wash. Co. Jail to try to pull
a stunt like this off.
Ongoing for years ????
Looks like the accountant that OK’d the books and the 2 perps
will all be looking for work.
I wonder if the “alleged” thieves will get any jail time???
Wouldn’t that be a surprise?
Poetic justice if they do.
The real kicker here is that it’s not some mega-jail with a few hundred or a thousand guys in it where funds really can get confused — 48 beds and two guys responsible for the canteen accounts. Duh.
Can’t quite fathom this trend of folks with steady jobs — and most well-above minimum wage with benefits — going to just dive into the accounts and nobody will ever notice, never. This ain’t Aunt Betty’s cookie jar, the money gets tallied up for taxes at least once a year, if not quarterly.
If they get found guilty — hell, if they ever go to court — make the punishment creative. 30 days in jail OR spend 40 hours a week standing out front with big signs “I stole from the inmates!”
I too find that with a decent paying job these people steal from others. Yet, it seems to be the norm here. Very sad that morality in Maine is catch as catch can…………..
Catch and get caught, seems like…
Donnie Smith seems to generate a lot of publicity. is he planning a run for governor in 2014?
Donnies finest at it again
Maybe it was some sort of a computer gliche or maybe the jails network was hacked by an outside individual or maybe these men have been stealing inmates money, these 2 men guilty or not may have done nothing wrong, it is probably good they are bringing a 3rd party in to complete the investigation.
Just to clarify, one man and one woman, not two men.
nummashell, indeed
I know both of these folks personally and would be shocked if these allegations are true. I guess we just don’t know other people as well as we think we do.
Is this the same chick that has been walking early in the morning during her work hours?? Sounds like she not only has been stealing from the inmates but the tax payers as well. I recall an article about why she had to be at work at 6AM each day to process civil papers but it seems she was walking around town during those hours.
I know there has been new custom clothing bought for
corrections and patrol that the sheriff purchased from this account. It should
have never been authorized or purchased from this account.. It is far to late
to try and pass the buck down the chain of command.
There are many people who work at the department who know of other purchases
that should have never been made by the sheriff. The people of the county are
not foolish enough to believe that because he is ( not a money guy ) he did not
have control or authorize purchases on this account. If he thinks that he sadly
mistaken..
Mrs Richardson has had a long standing case against Leigh and has been very
vocal in the fact that she has received little help from the Washington County
Sheriff. She was written the governor and requested help from other a state
wide agencies. Leigh has continued to stock and intimidate large numbers on the
community. This has put a lot of negative light on the sheriff and the department
due to his inaction.
This meeting called for by the Sheriff of the county commissioners is in a very
quick time frame. If the commissioners do not have all the facts in the case
they should not make any decisions until all parties have a chance to bring
forward all facts.
Leigh is obviously more intelegent than Washington and Hancock counties combined law enforcement and court systems. He has out smarted the DA’s office in order to gain what he wants.
WACO118 – Why do you bring Leigh and the Sheriff into this? Neither one of them have anything to do with an employee stealing money from the account!!! You sound like you might be close to or one of the accused!!! The only person responsible for their actions (if money was mis-spent is Mrs. Richardson and Mr. Gross!!) People need to take responsibility for their actions!!!! I wouldn’t worry about what Mr. Smith authorized. He is the boss and I’m sure he didn’t do anything illegal. Sounds like you are trying to put others at fault for your own actions! I will wait for the Sheriff’s investigation to be complete before I form my opinion of the accused!!!!!
Because chief administrators or persons in charge NEVER break the rules, right?
ruby – I’m not saying that administrators don’t break the rules. He has the Commissioners to answer to and I’m sure they are aware of how the employee clothing was purchased! I think Donnie Smith has done a great job while being in office. The whole force is better offf because of him. That department has been a joke in the years past. I think he has made a conscious effort to improve the services we receive in WC. When you get caught doing something illegally don’t blame it on “Leigh and Donnie Smith”!! That’s just diverting everyone’s attention to someone else.. We’ll see what the real truth is when the investigation is completed.
Freddowneast. I agree. Funds spent on deputies or department needs is not the same as funds spent for personal use or stolen as alleged in this case. Just saying.
What I just cannot understand is why Sheriff Smith continues to violate the the rights of his employees by broadcasting his suspicions in the media, before any formal charges have been filed and / or arrests made. A suspension with pay is a personnel matter unless, and until, criminal misconduct is verified and charges are filed. Why none of these employees has filed suit is beyond me.
The only thing that is clear to me, as evidenced by the press articles that Smith has generated over the past several years, is that he truly believes that any attention, even negative attention, is better than none at all. Narcissistic?? Perhaps…..
I hope the Washington County voters take a hard look at Sheriff Smith before the next election. You can, and should, do better.
I agree. I believe its time for the people to stand up against it. The story sounds suspicious to me, and I’ll be willing to bet there is more than meets the eye here. Maybe its time someone “filed suit”.
The suspicions of the lady at the health care place in Bangor were posted in the media before she was charged. What’s the difference? She was suspended with pay! Same situation, different town.
If Sheriff Smith spent money on uniforms or other officer needs why is that not justified!!! Spending money that is not yours for personal electronics like I Pads and computers and clothes for yourself is a lot different. Just saying.
Doesn’t the sheriff have to sign off on anything that funds are spent on? And if so wouldn’t he be held just as accountable?
Always something going on with Donnie Smith. Why did he make public the town the two corrections officers live in? That does not seem right.