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Local DA assigned to case of two Orleans County deputies accused of working for private company while on taxpayers' clock

By Billie Owens

Today it was announced that Genesee County District Attorney Lawrence Friedman has been assigned to be the Special Prosecutor in the case of two Orleans County Sheriff's deputies charged with crimes related to working for a private company while clocked in for law enforcement duties.

State Police Troop A in Batavia announced the arrest today of Orleans County Sheriff's Sgt. Dean Covis, of Albion, and Deputy Thomas Marano, of Brockport. Each is charged with one count of third-degree grand larceny and one count of first degree falsifying business records.

An investigation conducted by the New York State Police Major Crimes unit allegedly revealed that between November 2013 and January 2015, Sgt. Covis and Deputy Marano received payments from a private company they worked security for, after filing false time sheets, when in fact they were simultaneously working at the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office.

Covis and Marano were arraigned before Niagara County Court Judge Sara Sheldon in the Orleans County Court then released on their own recognizance.

In an interview with WBTA, Friedman said when asked how the case came to light "People apparently heard this was going on and reported it...I do not know for certain when the allegations were first made, but it has only been in the last few months that the State Police got involved and conducted their investigation."

Friedman said it's not illegal to work a second job when you are not working for the Sheriff's Office; but being paid for working in law enforcement while actually doing security detail for a private company is.

The company the defendants allegedly worked 12-hour security shifts for is Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners, which operates Waterport Dam in the Town of Carlton in Orleans County.

The DA said additional charges are possible.

"I'm thinking, specifically, the grand larceny charge would be one count, encompassing the entire relevant period of time," Friedman said. "Falsifyinging business records -- only one count was filed, but it could be multiple counts, one for each of the records that is alleged to have been falsfied."

Brian Graz

It seems that if this matter is serious enough for a "special prosecutor", they would bring one in from farther away than the the "neighbor next door"... ?

Sorta like the dog n pony show going on in DC, where the "former FBI director under Bush & Obama - Mueller, has been assigned "special prosecutor" to investigate the successors - Trump and Comey... ? I'm sure there will be no favoritism to the Establishment "never-Trump" crowd??? WTH

May 18, 2017, 11:07am Permalink
Ed Hartgrove

"I'm sure there will be no favoritism to the Establishment "never-Trump" crowd???"

D'ya know what I'm sure of, Brian?

I'm sure that, no matter which way "the chips fall", after former FBI director Mueller's investigation of Trump and Comey (which, from my understanding, it isn't supposed to be just Trump and Comey that are to be investigated), one side will be calling it a "Win!", and, the other side will be screaming "Favoritism!".

May 18, 2017, 12:35pm Permalink
Tim Miller

I misread the article's title as the the local DA being the one accused of working for the private company.

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Sorry, Billie - forgot the smiley face ;-) to show I had a chuckle over my misreading.

;-)

May 18, 2017, 5:39pm Permalink
Ed Hartgrove

Brian. I have no disagreement with what you wrote about Comey and Mueller. I only copied and pasted part of your previous comment to highlight what I believe will happen.

As for an argument, I'd have to think long and hard to come up with a time when I wrote something that I thought fits the description of "argumentative".

;)

May 18, 2017, 3:25pm Permalink

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