Long Island

Suffolk

walsh complete coverage

Robert E. Kessler

A federal judge declined Thursday to increase the potential sentence Edward Walsh faces, saying the government did not prove that the former Suffolk County Conservative Party leader obstructed justice, and only showed that he illegally siphoned off $26,000 more than he was convicted of — not enough to justify possible extra prison time.
U.S. District Judge Arthur Spatt issued his ruling after a hearing in federal court in Central Islip, after federal prosecutors argued for as much as 16 more months of incarceration. 
Walsh, also a former lieutenant in the Suffolk County Sheriff’s department, was convicted in March 2016 of theft of government services and wire fraud for illegally taking more than $200,000 in pay from the department while he was not on the job, but was rather involved in political activities, golfing or gambling.
Under that conviction, Walsh faces 24 to 30 months in prison when sentenced on June 20 under federal guidelines, which judges are not required to follow, but most often do.
Prosecutors wanted Spatt to rely on the new assertions to raise the potential sentence to 37 to 46 months, according to papers filed by Walsh’s defense attorneys, William Wexler of North Babylon and Leonard Lato of Hauppauge.
The new allegations were that the amount of money that Walsh actually pocketed was more than $400,000, and that he attempted to get three potential witnesses to testify falsely in his favor at the trial, the defense attorneys said in citing the prosecutors’ papers.
While not part of charges that resulted in Walsh’s convictions, such alleged related conduct can be considered by a judge after a so-called Fatico hearing in which both sides argue about the veracity of the claims and whether they should influence sentencing.
The three witnesses who prosecutors say Walsh tried to influence were Charles Vallillo, a former county corrections officer; Charles Ewald, a Suffolk jail warden, and Vito D’Agnello, former head of the Suffolk correction officers union.
An FBI agent had questioned the three about their interactions with Walsh, and after listening to the agent’s testimony, Spatt ruled that an obstruction charge would require threats or intimidation of a witness. Spatt said Walsh didn’t say anything unlawful. “He hoped that the witnesses would help him or not show up,” the judge said.
The government also alleged that Walsh has pocketed an additional $240,000 in compensation that he did not earn between 2007 and 2010. Walsh had been convicted only of taking $202,000 while at the jail from 2011 to 2014.
But Spatt objected to the government’s only sampling several months in each of the years between 2007 and 2014, figuring Walsh illegally pocketed about $5,000 a month and then extrapolating that number to calculate a loss of about $60,000 a year.
Spatt only credited Walsh with an additional gain of $26,000, citing some months in which an FBI agent calculated a daily loss. He would have had to find that Walsh illegally gained $250,000 or more, and also obstructed justice to have him face the increased sentence.

Crime

LIWALS0602

Federal judge rules Ed Walsh doesn’t face increased sentence

Judge denies longer sentence for Edward Walsh

No increased sentence for Ed Walsh

Newsday

A federal jury convicted Suffolk County Conservative Party leader Edward Walsh in just an hour Thursday after a 10-day trial in which the government used thousands of records to prove Walsh was golfing, gambling and politicking on county time.
Walsh was convicted of wire fraud and theft of government funds for illegally collecting more than $200,000 in pay and overtime pay for time spent in activities outside the Suffolk jail in Riverhead when he was supposed to be tending to his duties as a lieutenant.
Robert Capers, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District, who was in the courthouse at the time of the verdict, congratulated prosecutors Catherine Mirabile and Raymond Tierney when they left the courtroom, hugging Mirabile.
“We thank the jury for their kind consideration and justice will be done,” Capers said.
Walsh showed no emotion as the verdict was delivered by the foreman of the 12-member jury in federal court in Central Islip. Walsh declined to comment as did members of his family.
One of Walsh’s attorneys, William Wexler, of North Babylon, speaking to reporters, said he was “surprised” by the verdict and the speed of the deliberations.
“The jury has spoken,” Wexler said. “We accept the verdict. And we’ll review and if there’s an appeal, we’ll certainly appeal it, but I accept the jury verdict.” 
The jurors got the case just before 3:30 p.m. and returned a verdict about 4:30 p.m. 
Jury foreman Cosmo Laurino said the government’s case was very strong and the “overabundance of evidence” led to the guilty verdicts. 
“It was circumstantial evidence that was overwhelming,” said Laurino. “It wasn’t one thing; it was many things. It was obvious.” 
Laurino, an insurance agent, said that although jurors reached their verdict in an hour, they were careful. “We took our time to make sure we were thorough and make sure everybody was comfortable,” he said. “We didn’t want to do it in five minutes. We wanted to make sure.”
The remaining jurors who could be reached declined to comment.
Walsh faces 33 to 41 months in federal prison under recommended federal sentencing guidelines, though he theoretically could get as much as 30 years. He also faces forfeiture of the more than $200,000 he was convicted of stealing, as well as a fine of up to $250,000.
U.S. District Judge Arthur Spatt set sentencing for July 15.
Suffolk Sheriff Vincent DeMarco said in a statement: “Edward Walsh lined his pockets with taxpayer money, and today justice was served.”
The federal case against Walsh began when DeMarco went to federal prosecutors with concern about Walsh’s time sheets after, DeMarco said, Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota declined to act. Spota has denied this, saying DeMarco did not cooperate.
Before the verdict came in, Tierney summed up the government’s case, saying that Walsh “thought he was special ... He thought he could rig the game so the rules didn’t apply to him ... The defendant isn’t special. The defendant is a thief and he needs to be held accountable.” 
The government’s case was based on comparing Walsh’s cellphone records with other personal records such as golfing, gambling, bank deposits, and Conservative Party reimbursements for activities. Prosecutors argued that the records showed Walsh was in other locations when he put in for work at the Riverhead jail.
Walsh’s attorneys have said that DeMarco, a fellow member of the Conservative Party, was seeking revenge because Walsh, the leader of the state’s largest Conservative Party chapter, would not support him for a congressional nomination. They argued that DeMarco had been permitted to be outside the jail because he was a community liaison for the sheriff. 
Defense attorney Leonard Lato, of Hauppauge, in his summation, attacked DeMarco.
“Sheriff DeMarco has no credibility,” Lato said, calling him a “dishonest and vindictive man.” He said: “Ed Walsh shouldn’t be in the courtroom. Vincent DeMarco should be.” 
Federal investigators probing corruption in Long Island law enforcement and politics have subpoenaed investigators in the Suffolk district attorney’s office and sent a target letter to a key prosecutor, Newsday has reported. Nobody in the office has been charged with any wrongdoing.
In his summation, Tierney said that Walsh was so confident that his enormous political power would shield him from scrutiny, he told sheriff investigators that Spota wouldn’t intervene.
“ ‘If you’re worried about the other agency across the river doing anything, don’t ... They aren’t going to do anything’ — that’s what this defendant told internal affairs investigators,” Tierney said, referring to trial testimony from witnesses.
The sheriff’s internal affairs unit is across the Peconic River in Riverhead from the district attorney’s office.
A spokesman for Spota has declined to comment on the trial and Thursday did not return requests for comment.

LIWALS0401

Edward Walsh convicted on all counts in federal court

Walsh lawyer on conviction: 'We accept the verdict'

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David M. Schwartz

The conviction of Conservative Party Chairman Edward Walsh for wage theft and wire fraud Thursday set up an internal fight over the future of the party, with some members pushing for a new regime to head the influential minor party.
Under the party’s bylaws, a felony conviction removes Walsh as chairman. His first vice chair, Huntington Conservative leader Frank Tinari, becomes the new county chairman.
Tinari confirmed the succession arrangement last week. Reached by cellphone after the verdict, Tinari declined to comment or confirm that he was the new chairman.
During Walsh’s long tenure as party leader, Conservatives amassed significant power by leveraging its endorsements to elect Conservative judges and secure patronage jobs for party members. It is the largest county Conservative committee in the state.
Michael, O’Donohoe, Suffolk’s Commissioner of Jurors and a longtime Suffolk Conservative committeeman, said the party “has to be cleaned up. It doesn’t stand for any position or any philosophy, but it’s there to be bought and sold.”
O’Donohoe, a longtime critic of Walsh’s, said the party “was founded on getting good conservatives elected — mom, and apple pie and the American Flag. Now it’s the best little whorehouse in Suffolk.”
Richard Johannesen, former Brookhaven Conservative Chairman, said Tinari should not become permanent chairman. “He has not demonstrated himself to be independent enough from Walsh to help the Conservative Party begin anew,” Johannesen said.
Johannesen said Conservatives under Walsh have made too many compromises, allowing Democrats to run on the Conservative line too many times.
“I believe during Walsh’s administration, we’ve betrayed our responsibility to the electorate,” Johannesen said.
Suffolk Democratic Chairman Richard Schaffer said he expected Tinari to become the new chairman.
“I’ve known Frank. He’s respectable, professional. I’ve known him as an attorney for a long time,” Schaffer said.
Walsh was a brash figure in Suffolk politics. Nassau Republican Chairman Joseph Mondello once broke his hand when he punched a locker after a phone call with Walsh, who had been dickering over cross-endorsements of judicial candidates.
Walsh stripped the Brookhaven Conservative Committee of its right to endorse town candidates after town party members led a failed coup against him in 2014.
Recently, Walsh threatened to withhold Conservative backing from three state Senate Republicans in Suffolk in an effort to pressure them to remove county GOP Chairman John Jay LaValle. The Conservative line can mean the difference between defeat and victory for candidates in close races.
State Conservative Chairman Michael Long, while declining to discuss internal Suffolk Conservative politics, said there still was time for Senate Republicans to get the party’s endorsement.
“Things like this never help anybody,” Long said of the effect of Walsh’s conviction.

Politics

POCONS0401

Edward Walsh conviction sparks Conservative leadership fight 

Suffolk Conservatives jockey for power

LIWALS0401_WEB

A federal judge Wednesday turned down a defense motion to acquit Suffolk County Conservative Party leader Edward Walsh of theft and wire fraud charges.
The motion by Walsh’s lawyers to throw out the government’s case for lack of sufficient evidence is routine in many federal criminal trials after the defense and prosecution rest.
In denying the defense motion, U.S. District Judge Arthur Spatt, at the federal court in Central Islip, noted that the law requires him to consider such a motion while giving the greatest weight to the government’s case.
While not taking sides, Spatt ruled that the trial should go forward because the government had presented sufficient evidence so that a “rational” juror could find Walsh guilty of the charges.
The decision came on a day, with the jury off, that was spent mainly with Spatt, Eastern District federal prosecutors--Catherine Mirabile and Raymond Tierney--and defense attorneys--William Wexler, of North Babylon, and Leonard Lato, of Hauppauge--discussing the judge’s proposed jury charge. The charge is the judge’s instructions to the jury on how they are to use the law, the evidence and testimony in determining whether to acquit or convict Walsh.
Both sides are expected to sum up their cases Thursday and the judge is then expected to deliver his charge to the jury. Spatt said the jury’s deliberations may begin late Thursday or tomorrow Friday.
The lawyers are expected to give one-hour summations of their cases. Because they have the burden of proof in a criminal trial, prosecutors are then expected to give a final rebuttal to the defense case that should last twenty minutes, before the jury charge.
Walsh is accused of illegally receiving more than $200,000 in pay and overtime pay when he worked as a lieutenant at the Suffolk County Jail in Riverhead when he was actually golfing, gambling, engaged in Conservative Party activities, or present in his East Islip neighborhood.
Federal prosecutors based the main part of their case on citing the approximate location of where Walsh actually was when he was supposed to be working at the Riverhead jail.
Matching Walsh’s cell-phone records with his credit card, golf, casino gambling, gasoline purchases and bank deposit records, the prosecutors asserted that he was often away from the jail when he put in time slips claiming he was at work.
Defense attorneys maintained that Walsh, in his job as an aide to Sheriff Vincent DeMarco, had a flexible schedule that allowed him to be away from the jail acting as a liaison with community and political figures. Also, they say, Walsh was supposed to attend wakes or funerals of correction officers and their families and visit injured officers at hospitals.

LIWALS0331

Judge denies defense motion to find Ed Walsh not guilty

Judge turns down defense motion to acquit Walsh

The Edward Walsh trial

The Ed Walsh trial: What you need to know

A former University of Maryland student who said she was assaulted in 1984 by former Suffolk Sheriff’s lieutenant Edward Walsh said Wednesday she hoped “he will finally be held accountable for his ongoing bad behavior.”
Walsh, chairman of the Suffolk County Conservative Party, is on trial in U.S. District Court in Central Islip on charges of theft of government funds and wire fraud for collecting more than $200,000 in pay and overtime for working at the Suffolk County jail while he was actually golfing, gambling, doing political party work and being around his East Islip neighborhood.
During a video conference call at the nonprofit group Crime Victims Center in Ronkonkoma, on the day before summations in the trial were scheduled to begin, Mary Salins repeated her past account that Walsh sexually assaulted her while both were students at the university in 1984. 
Newsday has reported that a police report from December 1984 says that as Salins walked in front of a dorm at the university, Walsh knocked her boyfriend down and then groped her between her legs.
Court records show that Walsh was charged with a misdemeanor fourth-degree sex offense and that the disposition of the case was 12 months probation before judgment, Newsday has reported.
Years later, after Walsh applied to join the Suffolk County sheriff’s office, a Maryland judge granted his request to have the records expunged.
“A judge may have expunged his record, but no one can expunge the memory of what I had to deal with and what he took from me that night,” said Salins, 49, who lives on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and owns a business there, said via Skype.
Walsh’s defense attorney, William Wexler, of North Babylon, said Walsh denies the assault charges. Wexler said that with closing arguments in the federal trial scheduled for Thursday, the timing of Salins’ news conference “is very curious.”
U.S. District Judge Arthur Spatt turned down prosecutors’ request to introduce evidence of “bad character” on Walsh’s part during his current trial, including the arrest in the Maryland case.
Salins, a married mother of four, said she has followed the trial closely through the news media. Asked why she was speaking out now, she said, “I guess I want the opportunity to say I am here. I am real. This is me who it happened to. My story is credible.”
“He has had many times been given the opportunity to change his bad behavior,” Salins said of Walsh. “He’s chosen to try and beat the system.”
said she still is affected by the assault and vulgar comments she said Walsh and his friends made to her outside the courtroom back in 1984.
“You’re always looking over your shoulder to see who’s coming up behind you,” she said. “Was I violated, was I humiliated, was I disgraced, was I embarrassed? Yes, I was all of those.”

POWALS0331

Edward Walsh’s abuse victim criticizes party boss

Abuse victim: Hold Walsh accountable 

IMG8YZQ_WEB

Edward Walsh, the head of the Suffolk Conservative Party and a lieutenant in the county sheriff's department, collected more than $80,000 for working at the jail when he was actually golfing, gambling and engaged in political activities, according to court papers. 
An FBI complaint on Walsh's arrest, disclosed at his arraignment Wednesday, said that at various times between 2011 to 2014, Walsh, while on government time, was actually on the Hampton Hills golf course, gambling at the Foxwoods casino in Connecticut, working for the Conservative Party and attending a shareholder meeting of Interceptor Ignition Interlocks in Shirley. 
New York FBI director George Venizelos said: "Mr. Walsh shook down county government for hours he never worked . . . In reality, he was often on the ninth hole practicing his putting, among other things." 
The complaint also said Walsh lied to an FBI agent, a felony, when he said that he constantly made calls related to his work for the sheriff when he was golfing. He was not charged with that Wednesday, however. 
The information in the complaint was based on matching Walsh's department time sheets with his locations based on cellphone, ATM withdrawal, toll and casino records. 
In one example, the complaint said Walsh put in for five hours overtime and one hour travel time for working on Sunday, Oct. 21, 2012 at the Riverhead department complex. Yet that day no calls were made from the Riverhead area from or to his cell phone, according to the complaint. And the calls on Walsh's cell phone then were made or received from Connecticut, many near the Foxwoods Casino. Casino records indicate Walsh was playing poker there for an hour and 43 minutes, the complaint said.Walsh surrendered to FBI agents yesterday morning for processing, and was held in a U.S. Marshals cell in the federal court in Central Islip before being arraigned on the charge of theft of government services. Federal prosecutors have jurisdiction in the case because the jail receives government funding. 
He was not required to enter a plea and was released on a $50,000 personal bond by magistrate A. Kathleen Tomlinson, pending future hearings. 
Walsh declined to comment after the arraignment. 
But his attorney William Wexler, of Babylon, said outside court that DeMarco had praised Walsh for more than seven years as one of the finest employees in the sheriff's department. 
"But 21/2 weeks after they had a political dispute, the sheriff is at the FBI saying he's shocked my client wasn't working when he filed time slips," Wexler said. Wexler would not disclose the nature of the political dispute. 
Walsh had been instrumental in having the Suffolk Sheriff, Vincent DeMarco, a fellow Conservative Party member, twice run successfully without opposition from Democrats or Republicans. 
After Walsh was arrested Wednesday, DeMarco ordered Walsh suspended without pay. Wexler said Walsh planned to fight the suspension. 
In a statement, DeMarco disputed Wexler's previous defenses of his client when the FBI investigation became publicly known several months ago. 
Wexler had said that Walsh's job essentially was to serve as a liaison to the judiciary and the community and he was not expected to be regularly in the jail. He also said Walsh's office in Riverhead was near DeMarco's, so the sheriff had to know that Walsh often was not present. 
In his statement Wednesday, DeMarco said, "Lt. Walsh's job required him to work within the . . . [Riverhead] correctional complex." DeMarco said that while he has a satellite office in Riverhead, his primary offices have been in Yaphank and Central Islip. 
In a statement, United States Attorney Loretta Lynch said, "Instead of upholding the law, Edward Walsh abused his position and authority and robbed from taxpayer to fund his personal and political activities." 
Based on an agreement between Assistant United States Attorneys Catherine Mirabile and Raymond Tierney and defense attorneys Wexler and Leonard Lato, of Hauppauge, the government will have 60 days to indict Walsh, work out a plea deal, dismiss the charge, or ask for more time to continue the case. 
Walsh faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of the theft charge, but is more likely to be sentenced to 15 to 21 months under suggested federal guidelines. 
With William Murphy

LIWALS08

Conservative Party head Edward Walsh golfed, gambled on government time, say prosecutors

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Edward M. Walsh Jr. rose to become one of the most powerful political figures on Long Island since he took over as Suffolk Conservative Party chairman in 2006, leveraging the minor-party line into judgeships for Conservatives, patronage jobs and major-party endorsements for allies seeking top elected office.
Along the way, Walsh, 48, of East Islip, developed a reputation for a brash style that he used to secure political boons and punish his opponents.
Allies say that he was an effective force for Conservative Party power.
"The Conservative Party certainly prospered and was very effective under his leadership," said Michael Dawidziak, a political consultant and Walsh friend. 
"No matter what you're going to write about his current situation, I think you have to say he was very effective."
Opponents said he strong-armed opponents in attempts to get his way.
"My opinion of Mr. Walsh is he is a bully who got his way by intimidation and pressure, holding the Conservative Party endorsement over people's heads," Republican Smithtown Supervisor Patrick Vecchio said.
After being a star athlete at East Islip High School, the 6-foot-6 Walsh attended the University of Maryland on a football scholarship. He was hired with the sheriff's department in December 1990, despite questions that would surface later about a past arrest and a failed drug test for the New York City Police Department application. Walsh's attorney said the charge was ultimately dismissed, sealed and expunged. Walsh has said he was on a prescribed medicine when he tested positive, and never sought to retake the test.
Walsh's father, Ed Walsh Sr., had served as a committeeman with fellow Islip Conservative Michael Mahoney, the brother of then-Sheriff Patrick Mahoney.
The younger Walsh became the Islip Town chairman in 2002.
Walsh has retained strong loyalty despite being under federal investigation. He was re-elected overwhelmingly at September's Conservative Party county convention.
On election night, newly elected Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley) embraced Walsh onstage. Zeldin also made a guest appearance at Walsh's fundraiser two days before Christmas.
Walsh took on a series of fights, including with Nassau Republican leader Joseph Mondello, who punched a locker and broke a finger in 2012 over a judicial cross-endorsement deal, and recently stripped Brookhaven Conservatives of the power to cross-endorse town candidates. Walsh also battled with the Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association in 2008 over having the sheriff's department police the Long Island Expressway and Sunrise Highway. 
"He made it personal," said Michael D. O'Donohoe, a longtime Suffolk County Conservative Party committeeman and Suffolk's current commissioner of jurors. "He wanted to be the schoolyard bully and the toughest kid on the block."

POBIO08

Walsh seen as 'bully' as he ascended to party leadership spot

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Edward Walsh, head of Suffolk's Conservative Party and a lieutenant in the county sheriff's department, is expected to be charged as early as Wednesday with fraudulently collecting about $100,000 in salary for the time he claimed to be working for the department, said sources familiar with a federal investigation into his conduct.
The theft of government services charge against Walsh, which is a felony, is contained in a complaint based on information provided by FBI agents investigating the political leader's activities and has been approved by a federal judge, the sources said.
Federal prosecutors allege that Walsh, the chairman of the state's largest Conservative Party unit, was actually engaged in other unrelated activities when he claimed on time slips that he was working on sheriff department business, the sources said. The unrelated activities included Walsh's actual presence at political functions, the sources said.
Nellin McIntosh, a spokeswoman for Loretta Lynch, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, declined to comment.
Walsh is to surrender to federal authorities to be photographed, fingerprinted and arraigned at the federal court in Central Islip, the sources said.
Walsh's attorney, William Wexler, of Babylon, said Tuesday that he would not discuss whether his client was aware of the charge or had agreed to voluntarily surrender.
"I'm surprised that the government would wade into ordinary Conservative Party politics that has resulted from a political disagreement between the sheriff and my client," Wexler said.
Wexler declined to say what the disagreement was between Walsh and Suffolk County Sheriff Vincent DeMarco.
Newsday previously has reported that FBI agents have investigated whether Walsh was golfing at Hampton Hills Golf and Country Club in Westhampton Beach course near the county jail in Riverhead when he allegedly collected a salary for working for the sheriff. Also, it was reported that Walsh was at a business meeting with his friend Gary Melius, the politically influential owner of the Oheka Castle, while falsely billing for county work. 
Why it's a federal case
Federal prosecutors have jurisdiction in the Walsh case because the sheriff's department receives federal funding.
Newsday also has reported that a federal investigation into Walsh is part of a broader probe into possible political corruption in Suffolk County, including the appointment of judges, and the business activities of politically connected people such as Melius. 
Walsh understood his sheriff's job to be a patronage plum, essentially requiring public relations, generating good will for the sheriff's department and serving as a liaison, smoothing over any complaints about the department's conduct from judges and other influential political and business figures, the sources have said. This allowed Walsh to believe he could come and go as he pleased, they said. Walsh was not even required to buy or wear a uniform, the sources said.
Sources have also said that Walsh was questioned by FBI agents and asked to cooperate in the corruption probe, but he refused, saying he has done nothing wrong: maintaining that his actions for the Conservative Party were traditionally accepted political practices, and his sheriff's position allowed him to make up later for scheduled work he did not perform.
Wexler previously has said much the same, when questioned about a federal investigation into Walsh, that his client has done nothing improper. Wexler also has said the nature of Walsh's work was such that he could later make up any missed work without penalty. Walsh has said he worked as a liaison between the courts and Suffolk jails and investigated security issues in the jails.
DeMarco has been elected sheriff on the Conservative line twice, without opposition from Democrats or Republicans. 
The two have a complicated relationship: DeMarco is Walsh's boss in the department, but DeMarco is under his lieutenant in the party hierarchy.
DeMarco has said he started an internal probe into Walsh's collection of wages after a Newsday article in February reported that his lieutenant was at an unrelated private business meeting when he was supposed to be at work.
DeMarco subsequently asked for federal investigators to look into the situation. The sheriff has said his interest was not political, but only in seeking whether the trust county taxpayers place in public employees was being violated.
Power of his party
Support by Walsh's Conservative Party is often actively courted by other politicians because, while the party receives only a fraction of votes drawn by Democrats and Republicans, these can provide the margin of victory in elections. As a result, Conservative activists often get judgeship nominations, judicial clerkships and patronage posts out of proportion to their vote totals. 
Wexler has said his client has been involved only in the selection of "outstanding candidates" for judicial nominations, including well-regarded prosecutors from the office of the Suffolk County district attorney.
An attorney for Melius has denied his client has done anything improper.

LIWALS07

Conservative Party chief Edward Walsh to be charged with salary fraud, sources say

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Public corruption corrodes the public trust. Corruption in the judiciary, or even the appearance of it, is worse. It undermines our confidence in the rule of law. 
That's why "The Insiders," a Newsday investigation published Sunday, is maddening. The extensive reporting by Sandra Peddie and Will Van Sant connects the dots that depict the bones of patronage, describing how some political power brokers are rewarded for delivering minor-party endorsements to judicial candidates. 
These poisonous connections are nothing new on Long Island. Every decade or so, the usually subtle practice grows so blatant that federal prosecutors are needed to extract these oozing sores from local government. Newsday's reporting on wheeler-dealer Gary Melius, operator of Oheka Castle in Huntington, continues to reveal deep hooks into the Suffolk County bench. The most recent Newsday story found that Thomas Whelan and Emily Pines, two state Supreme Court judges sitting in Suffolk County, broke rules in awarding $600,000 in contracts and fees to Melius; his daughter, Kelly; his former son-in-law, Richard Bellando, who heads the Nassau County Independence Party; Huntington Town Councilman Mark Cuthbertson; and partners in politically connected law firms. 
Once again, feds are on the case 
This patronage is wrong. Whether it's worthy of criminal prosecution will be determined by Loretta Lynch, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Her office is aggressively investigating Melius and Edward Walsh, chairman of the Suffolk County Conservative Party. Walsh was suspended from his job as a county correction officer for allegedly filing false time sheets. On one of those workdays in question, Walsh was at a shareholder meeting of a company just after Whelan awarded control of it to Melius. The firm, Interceptor Ignition Interlocks, makes vehicle Breathalyzer devices that defendants convicted of drunken driving must purchase. Melius tried to get Frank MacKay, chairman of the state Independence Party and a close friend of Whelan, on the board of Interlocks. 
This tangle of cronyism can't be investigated by local district attorneys, who may have long-standing relationships with, or political connections to, these players. What's been going on stinks, and it's been occurring under the noses of local law enforcement. Perhaps because of political fundraisers hosted at Oheka, no one had caught a whiff. 
Federal prosecutors have a colder eye, a better arsenal of criminal laws and skilled forensic teams to plow through boxes of opaque legal and banking documents. Across the nation, the U.S. Department of Justice has made state and local corruption a priority, generating headlines in New York over state legislators involved in kickback schemes or submitting phony vouchers for meal and lodging stipends. 
Full-court press for answers 
Lynch is well versed in the suburban version of "Let's Make a Deal," which always seems to involve a favored group with an octopus-like ability to grab favors. In the early 1990s, Lynch led the prosecution of John McNamara and Brookhaven Town officials in a bribery scheme to get favorable treatment for real estate projects. Once again, she must tap into the tremendous resources needed to ferret out misdeeds. 
Immediate action should be taken by the New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct to review the actions of Whelan and Pines. Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman should demand to know who made the recommendations that Whelan and Pines get the plum assignments to oversee commercial cases and how the two were allowed to skirt rules governing the awarding of lucrative property management fees. 
We need to know who stained our judiciary and deprived us of the honest services citizens have a right to expect from their government.

Opinion

VPLYNCH09

Editorial: Look deep into corrosive mix of politics and judges

Editorial: Our corrosive mix of politics and judges

Loretta Lynch generic caption CROPPED

A federal grand jury investigation into a Suffolk County sheriff's lieutenant has broadened to a wide-ranging look into possible political corruption in the county, according to several sources familiar with the situation. 
The investigation began in May when Suffolk County Sheriff Vincent DeMarco turned over records to the FBI indicating that Lt. Edward Walsh, who also is the county Conservative Party leader, may have been collecting salary for time he did not work. 
In addition to Walsh, agents have been inquiring about a range of topics, including what those interviewed know about possible illegalities in the selection of Suffolk judges and the business activities of politically connected figures -- such as Oheka Castle owner Gary Melius, according to the sources. 
But it was the inquiry into the salary allegations that led to the variety of other broader questions currently being investigated, they said. 
The investigation only is in its initial stages, the sources said, and the process does not necessarily lead to indictments. 
A spokesman for federal prosecutors in the Eastern District, Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney William Muller, declined to comment. 
A grand jury, such as this one in Brooklyn, often hears from witnesses and collects evidence in totally unrelated potential criminal cases. 
In the Walsh probe, FBI agents traveled to the Riverhead jail and interviewed at least two members of the department, Newsday has reported. In addition, the grand jury has been issuing subpoenas. 
At the jail, the agents talked to co-workers of Walsh who may have been golfing with him at a Westhampton Beach course near the county jail in Riverhead, while he was ostensibly working for the sheriff's department, sources said. 
Walsh, the leader of the state's largest county Conservative Party, has been active in the selection of judges in the past. 
Newsday reported in May that Walsh was among the targets of an investigation into whether sheriff's office employees collected wages for hours they did not work. 
Walsh's attorney, William Wexler, of Babylon, says that his client has been involved only in the nomination of "outstanding candidates" for judgeships, including well-respected prosecutors from the Suffolk County district attorney's office. 
As for collecting a salary for not working, Wexler said that the nature of his client's job was such that he could make up at a later date time that he did not work when scheduled. 
The general manager of the Hampton Hills Golf and Country Club in Westhampton Beach, Stanley Pine, declined to discuss the FBI's gathering of records of Walsh's golfing there. 
James Druker, the attorney for sheriff's investigator Charles Vallillo -- one of the two co-workers initially questioned by the FBI, said earlier this week that his client had done nothing wrong and had no information to provide agents. 
The other correction officer questioned was investigator Richard Clark, sources said. 
Clark and his attorney, Daniel Sullivan of Central Islip, declined to comment. 
Neither Walsh nor any of those questioned have been charged with crimes. 
In the case of Melius, agents have been asking whether there is any information about questionable business actions by the Oheka Castle business owner, including when he took over Interceptor Ignition Interlocks, a company that manufactures devices to prevent drunken driving, the sources said. 
Walsh was present at an Interlock board meeting after Melius got control of the company, according to records obtained by Newsday. 
Walsh said he was there to offer "moral support" to Melius, but DeMarco has said Walsh was supposed to be working for the sheriff's department at the time of the board meeting. 
Joseph Conway, of Mineola, one of Melius' attorneys, denied that there was anything inappropriate about his client's actions in any business dealings.

LIJURY24

Grand jury looking at Suffolk Sheriff Lt. Edward Walsh widens scope

A new complaint filed in federal court by Brookhaven Conservatives accuses County Chairman Edward Walsh of reimbursing himself for expenses without approval from the county's executive committee. 
The Suffolk County Conservative Chairman's Club "housekeeping" committee spent $41,711 between January and July for "Walsh's personal benefit," according to an amended complaint filed in federal court Nov. 24. Vincent Messina Jr., the attorney for Walsh and the Conservative Party, said the complaint "completely lacks merit." 
The expenses cited in the complaint include $1,117 a month for a GMC Yukon, as well as payments for auto insurance, phones, gas and unspecified office expenses, according to the complaint, which cited financial disclosures made with the New York State Board of Elections. They also include a portion of the $65,000-a-year stipend that the county executive committee authorized for Walsh in 2009. 
Brookhaven Town Conservatives had sued Walsh in federal court in October after the county executive committee voted to take away their power to endorse candidates. The lawsuit said Walsh had tried to "intimidate and coerce" the town party. 
The decision on the town party's power to endorse came after Brookhaven Conservative co-chair Kenneth Auerbach of Port Jefferson unsuccessfully tried to rally votes to challenge Walsh as county chairman before a September county convention. Walsh was overwhelmingly re-elected. 
Messina requested the case be dismissed in a letter sent Monday to U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Bianco. 
The letter said the lawsuit is over a political party's internal dispute, which is outside the court's jurisdiction. "Among the grievances described in the complaint are those as petty as one taking issue with defendant's alleged requests to coordinate the scheduling of fundraisers so as to avoid conflicts," Messina wrote. 
The Suffolk County Conservative Party Executive Committee in 2009 authorized Walsh to get a $65,000-a-year stipend, according to the amended complaint, but never voted on the car or expenses. Tom Teresky, the Huntington lawyer for Brookhaven Town Conservatives, said there is no physical office for the Suffolk County Conservative Party that his clients know about. 
Frank Tinari, executive vice chairman of the county Conservative Party, said Walsh reduced his stipend to make up for the car payment. "He's out every night meeting with political leaders in the county," said Tinari, who is also Huntington Conservative chairman. "If he's driving around, any expenses, if it's related to party business, I don't see any issue with that at all." 
Walsh is being investigated by federal law enforcement, and is suspected of collecting wages for work he did not perform. Sheriff Vincent DeMarco has moved to fire him from his job as a correction lieutenant. Walsh is fighting the termination and his attorney on the federal case has denied the allegations against him.

POCONS11

Edward Walsh's expense spending faulted in federal complaint filed by Brookhaven Conservatives

Party boss' expense spending questioned

The FBI investigation into Suffolk Conservative Party chairman Edward Walsh is not just about allegations that he collected wages for hours he did not work as a county correction lieutenant, William Wexler, Walsh's new criminal defense attorney, said in an interview Friday.
But before federal investigators can pressure his client into helping them go after other targets, they first have to make a wage-theft case against Walsh stick -- and that will be tough, Wexler said.
"The FBI is not interested in time sheets. They want to use Ed to get to something else," said Wexler, a North Babylon attorney with a history of representing Long Island officials in trouble. "But I don't think they are going to be able to do it."
Newsday has reported that Suffolk County Sheriff Vincent DeMarco began an internal investigation into Walsh in February. Though he hasn't publicly revealed the findings of that investigation, DeMarco suspended Walsh for 30 days in June. Three weeks later, DeMarco filed departmental charges against Walsh and moved to fire him.
It was expected that Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota would handle the Walsh investigation from there, but the FBI now has the case.
On Tuesday, FBI agents questioned two correction officers after they arrived for work at the county jail, according to a law enforcement source close to the events.
Garden City attorney James Druker acknowledged that his client, Charles Vallillo, was one of the correction officers that agents questioned. The name of the second officer could not be verified Friday.
"He has nothing to hide," Druker said of Vallillo, who has worked for the sheriff's office since 1989. "And as far as I understand, he is not the subject of any investigations himself."
Wexler, Walsh's attorney, said he has heard that Vallillo and the other officer questioned by agents are both scheduled to testify before a federal grand jury. Druker declined to comment on whether Vallillo had been asked to testify before a grand jury.
Officials with the Suffolk County Correction Officers Association, the union that represents Vallillo and the other officer, did not respond to requests for comment. Sheriff's office spokesman Michael Sharkey also declined to comment, citing ongoing investigations. An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment.
Firm might be in probe
Wexler said he believes that federal investigators ultimately want Walsh to help them with an inquiry involving Interceptor Ignition Interlocks, a company that made ignition-locking devices that aim to prevent drunken driving.
Newsday has reported that Oheka Castle owner Gary Melius made a deal with the company's founder, John Ruocco, in which Melius would earn shares in Interceptor in exchange for helping win public contracts. Within months, Nassau and Suffolk counties tailored their policies on such devices in a way that aided Interceptor.
Then, with a December ruling in a legal dispute between Melius and the company's founder, Suffolk Justice Thomas Whelan effectively handed control of Interceptor to Melius.
Whelan's ruling came after Melius attempted to get his friend and ally Frank MacKay, chairman of the state Independence Party, appointed to Interceptor's board. Whelan is godfather to MacKay's daughter, and MacKay is Whelan's longtime political benefactor.
Whelan recused himself from the ongoing litigation involving Melius and Interceptor's founder after Newsday reported the ties between Whelan, MacKay, Melius and Interceptor.
Motion granted
Newsday originally obtained the records from the Interceptor legal dispute hours before Suffolk Chief Judge C. Randall Hinrichs granted a motion by Spota to seal the case. Spota's request came after an unknown assailant shot Melius on Feb. 24. Melius survived the attempt on his life and the assailant has not been caught. Hinrichs unsealed the case in May.
In a February story based on records from the legal dispute, Newsday reported that Walsh attended an Interceptor board meeting on Feb. 21 -- the first board meeting since Whelan's ruling gave Melius control of Interceptor.
Walsh said he was there to offer Melius "moral support." Melius was shot three days later.
After reading the story, Sheriff DeMarco checked time sheet records and learned that Walsh was supposed to be working when he attended the board meeting with Melius.
Wexler said Walsh has done nothing wrong.
The policy of the sheriff's office had long been that certain employees who missed a portion of an assigned shift could work the hours later, and that's what Walsh did, Wexler said. 
So while Walsh was absent during periods of some shifts, he made up the time and worked every hour he was paid for, Wexler said.
"I am not quite sure, again, if the FBI understands how the sheriff's office works with shifts and tour changes," Wexler said. "Time sheets are not an accurate reflection of the hours that you worked."
Wexler said that in April, the sheriff's office changed its policy so that exact hours worked must be reported. He said the change shows that precise reporting had not been considered necessary.
Walsh joined the sheriff's office 23 years ago and was paid $163,044 in base pay and $51,479 in overtime last year. After his suspension ended on July 25, he contested his firing and has chosen to have a hearing officer selected by the county consider his case.
Call for prosecutor 
As it became known that the FBI was involved in the Walsh investigation, County Executive Steve Bellone publicly called on Spota to name a special prosecutor in the Walsh case to avoid the appearance that politics might influence his decisions.
Spota, who won three elections with the backing of Walsh's Conservative Party, said he had his own investigations to keep him busy and he was glad that the FBI had taken on the probe.
In Wexler, Walsh has an attorney who has previously represented public officials under scrutiny or criminal investigation.
In 2001, Wexler represented then-Suffolk Sheriff Patrick A. Mahoney, who stood accused of using his office for political purposes and of coercing employees to make campaign contributions. 
Then-District Attorney James Catterson brought a felony charge and 54 misdemeanor counts against Mahoney.
Mahoney kept his job after pleading guilty to three misdemeanors, which Wexler characterized as a victory over prosecutors.
Mahoney's then-deputy in the sheriff's office, Edward J. Morris, also faced charges in the case and pleaded guilty to defrauding the government, a felony.
Morris, Walsh's political mentor, was represented at the time by Spota, who defeated Catterson later that year in the race for district attorney.

INFEDS24

Clues emerge in direction of Walsh investigation

pocong25 cropped

There is a federal investigation underway of a Suffolk County corrections officer who allegedly submitted false time sheets, claiming he was on the job at the jail when he was actually off on his side job. 
On the face of it, an FBI investigation of a routine case like this is preposterous, even if the correction department gets federal grants and reimbursements. But stitch together a few more facts, and you'll see why Long Island's legal and political communities are buzzing. 
Correction Officer Edward Walsh, who is also the chairman of Suffolk County's Conservative Party, was brought up on departmental charges by his boss, Suffolk County Sheriff Vincent DeMarco. The sheriff is a registered Conservative, who has been elected twice with Walsh's backing. 
After DeMarco completed his internal investigation, he decided not to turn the case over to District Attorney Thomas Spota for possible prosecution. Instead, DeMarco took his evidence to Loretta Lynch, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York. This page said weeks ago that Spota should recuse himself from the Walsh case and ask for a special prosecutor to avoid even the appearance of a conflict of interest because of his personal and political ties to Walsh. 
With no inclination on Spota's part to take such action, DeMarco went to the feds. He was right to do so. Here's why. 
DeMarco says he first learned Walsh was conducting politics while on the job after reading a Feb. 28 Newsday story published days after the shooting of political power broker Gary Melius outside Oheka Castle, the high-scale catering venue he owns in Huntington. 
In looking at Melius's dealings, Newsday detailed a legal fight over control of a company called Interceptor Ignition Interlocks. Melius claimed he was promised a major stake in the firm that made Breathalyzer-type ignition devices if he got the Nassau and Suffolk legislatures to require the technology the company provided. Supreme Court Justice Thomas Whelan ruled in favor of Melius in that nasty dispute. On Feb. 21, Walsh attended the first stockholder meeting after the ruling "to provide moral support" to Melius, Newsday reported. 
But DeMarco looked at Walsh's records and saw a time sheet that recorded him as working in Riverhead that day. The Newsday story also detailed how Whelan's ruling came after Melius had sought to get Frank McKay, the chairman of the state Independence Party and a close friend of Whelan, onto the board of Interlock. After Newsday looked at the Interlock court files, Spota took the highly unusual step of sealing the files as part of his investigation of the shooting. 
So it's not surprising that investigators might want to go to a grand jury with a case against a public employee who cheated on his time sheets. It could lead to a look at the dealings of a political party boss with enormous influence on who gets nominated and who wins elections. These deals by minor parties are often transactional, delivering votes that usually bring patronage in return. If the usual quid pro quo got a little too explicit, however, the line into illegality may have been crossed. And Walsh may just know how these favors were doled out. 
For aggressive federal prosecutors, Long Island could be what they like to call "a target-rich environment."

VPFED21

Editorial: Nothing routine about Walsh investigation

Suffolk Sheriff Vincent DeMarco confirmed Monday that an investigation into Edward Walsh, a correction lieutenant and Suffolk Conservative Party chairman, has been turned over to the FBI. 
DeMarco said he gave materials that were used to bring termination charges against Walsh to the FBI last week. The sheriff has declined to specify the reason for the charges, but Newsday has reported that Walsh, a powerful figure in Suffolk politics for the past eight years, had been under investigation since February, accused of charging the county for hours that he didn't work. 
Sheriff investigators informed District Attorney Thomas Spota's investigators of the move last Thursday at a 9 a.m. meeting. "We told them the FBI has an investigation. If they had any questions, give them a call," DeMarco said. 
An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment. 
Meanwhile, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said Monday that Spota should appoint a special prosecutor to decide whether to press criminal charges against Walsh. 
"I think a special prosecutor makes sense here," Bellone said in an interview. ". . . It's important the public is assured that someone accused of stealing taxpayer money, that politics will never get in the way." 
Spota's office did not return requests for comment. 
Spota beat incumbent District Attorney James Catterson in 2001, in part, by taking away his Conservative Party support. Since then, Spota has been re-elected three times with backing from the Conservative Party. 
Walsh's attorney, Frank Tinari, did not respond to requests for comment. Walsh's labor attorney, Barry Peek, said he could not comment. 
Walsh, who was paid $163,044 in base pay and $51,479 in overtime last year, is contesting his termination and has chosen to have a hearing officer selected by the county consider his case. Civil service rules allow Walsh to collect pay while the case is being decided. 
Since the investigation into wage theft became public, DeMarco has said he planned to turn the results of the investigation over to Spota's office for possible criminal prosecution. 
When Walsh was eligible to return to work on July 25, Spota spokesman Robert Clifford said DeMarco's office had canceled three meetings that had been scheduled in the two weeks prior. At the meeting, the sheriff's office was to provide information on the Walsh investigation to prosecutors. 
"We have not received any departmental charges, or information, regarding a case or a sheriff's investigation," Clifford wrote in an email to a Newsday reporter. 
At the time, DeMarco said his office had not canceled three meetings. He said his staff was not able to make one suggested date and had proposed another. 
DeMarco said his office informed the county executive's office on Friday that the FBI had the investigation. 
Legis. Kate Browning, chair of the county legislature's Public Safety Committee, said she believes Spota should recuse himself from any involvement because of his long-standing ties to Walsh. 
"Because of politics and people running on the [Conservative] line, with his endorsement, I just feel it's a conflict of interest," Browning (WF-Shirley) said. 
Presiding Officer DuWayne Gregory (D-Amityville) said he believed that Spota did have the ability to weigh the case. "Tom Spota has shown himself to be a fair and impartial prosecutor," Gregory said.

POWALS12

Edward Walsh probe turned over to FBI, Suffolk Sheriff DeMarco says

Suffolk Conservative Party chairman Edward Walsh is returning to the county sheriff's payroll as he fights his firing as a correction lieutenant, his attorney said yesterday.
Walsh, who was suspended without pay for 30 days on June 25, has decided to contest his termination by Sheriff Vincent DeMarco in front of a hearing officer chosen by the county, said Barry Peek, a Garden City attorney representing Walsh.
Under county civil service rules, Walsh can continue to be paid during that process. Had Walsh chosen to have his case heard by an arbitrator agreed to by Walsh and the county, he could have lost his civil service protections and remained indefinitely suspended without pay.
"This allows a little more flexibility," Peek said, noting that having the county choose the hearing officer makes it easier for Walsh to appeal a decision against him, because a mutually chosen arbitrator's decision is binding.
DeMarco, a Conservative Party member, moved to fire Walsh on July 15 and filed departmental charges against him. The sheriff has declined to specify the reason for the action, but Newsday has reported that Walsh had been under investigation since February, accused of charging the county for hours that he didn't work.
Walsh, 48, has worked for the sheriff's department for 23 years, and made $163,044 in base pay and $51,479 in overtime last year. He has served as liaison to the jail's courts, gang and internal security units.
Walsh's suspension officially ended yesterday, but as of late afternoon, sheriff's chief Michael Sharkey said the department had not been notified of the process Walsh had chosen to fight his termination.
Walsh has until late Monday to notify the county of his intentions, Sharkey said. His assignment upon his return to work has yet to be determined.
"Obviously, it will have to be appropriate based on the ongoing case," Sharkey said.
Peek said it probably will be months before a decision is reached. "We intend to defend this case vigorously," he said.
DeMarco has said he would refer the departmental charges against Walsh to District Attorney Thomas Spota's office for possible criminal prosecution. But DA's spokesman Robert Clifford said Friday that the sheriff has canceled three scheduled meetings with the office over the past two weeks.
"To date, we have not received any departmental charges, or information, regarding a case or a Sheriff's investigation," Clifford said in an email.
DeMarco said last night that his office had not canceled three scheduled meetings. He said though his staff was not able to make one suggested date, they had proposed another one. 
"It's just not true," DeMarco said of Clifford's claim.

POWALS26

Edward Walsh returns to Suffolk payroll as he fights firing

Suffolk County Sheriff Vincent DeMarco moved Tuesday to fire Edward Walsh from his job as a correction lieutenant.
Departmental charges will be referred to District Attorney Thomas Spota's office for possible criminal prosecution, DeMarco said.
Officials declined to specify the reason for the action, but Newsday has reported that Walsh has been under investigation since February, accused of charging the county for hours that he didn't work.
Walsh, chairman of the Suffolk Conservative Party, met with the sheriff department's internal affairs investigators Tuesday afternoon, and received notice the department was moving to fire him.
"We're seeking termination. We will be reaching out to the district attorney's office to review the case and turn over what we have," DeMarco said.
Walsh will fight the departmental charges, his attorney said. "We deny the charges," said Barry Peek, a partner at Garden City-based Meyer, Suozzi, English and Klein.
DeMarco said he's restricted by state law from providing details about the allegations against Walsh. "I can't comment because of the law. It's frustrating that there's a lack of transparency in matters like this," he said. State law prevents the disclosure of information about the performance of law enforcement personnel.
Peek also said he was "not free to comment on what the charges are."
Walsh was suspended without pay for 30 days on June 25, with officials giving no reason.
Under the collective bargaining agreement with the Suffolk County Correction Officers Association, Walsh has 10 days to decide whether to contest the termination in front of a hearing officer selected by the county or go to arbitration. Peek said that they had not decided which route to take.
Correction officers union president Vito Dagnello did not return a call seeking comment.
Walsh, 48, has worked for the sheriff's department for 23 years.
After 25 years of service, he could retire and receive his full pension, according to the state comptroller's office. The full pension would equal half his average annual salary. If Walsh retires or is terminated before the 25-year mark, he would have to wait until he's 62 to get full retirement benefits.
He made $163,044 in base pay and $51,479 in overtime last year, according to county records.
Walsh serves as the liaison to the courts and gang and internal security units at the jail.
State campaign disclosure forms show Walsh was paid more than $62,000 last year as Conservative Party chairman, a post he's held for eight years.
Michael Long, chairman of the state Conservative Party, called the controversy involving Walsh "a distraction. But the due process has to work itself out. Ultimately, leaders of the party in Suffolk will have to make the decision going forward."
Michael D. O'Donohoe, a longtime Conservative committeeman and former Suffolk County legislator, said Walsh should "immediately resign" as party leader.
"He'll damage the party," said O'Donohoe, who in the past had stopped short of calling for his resignation. 
DeMarco is a Conservative Party member who won office with Walsh's help.
Legis. Kate Browning (WF-Shirley), chairwoman of the legislature's Public Safety Committee, praised DeMarco for "taking action on behalf of the Suffolk County taxpayers."
But she said state 50a law preventing disclosure of the charges should be amended.
"If it's in any way related to stealing time from Suffolk County taxpayers, there should be some disclosure to taxpayers about what the charges are," Browning said.
Spota's spokesman Robert Clifford did not respond to requests for comment.

POWALS16

Edward Walsh told that Suffolk sheriff's department seeking his termination

Edward Walsh, chairman of the Suffolk County Conservative Party, was suspended Wednesday for 30 days without pay from his job as a lieutenant in the county's sheriff's department, sheriff chief of staff Michael Sharkey said. 
Sharkey declined to say what prompted Walsh's suspension, but said Sheriff Vincent DeMarco's investigation into whether correction employees billed the county for time they didn't work is ongoing. Newsday has reported that Walsh was among at least three sheriff's employees who are under investigation. 
A decision is pending on whether to bring departmental charges against Walsh to terminate him, according to a source with knowledge of the inquiry. The internal affairs investigation will be forwarded to Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota's office, the source said. 
Walsh made $163,044 in base pay and $51,479 in overtime in 2013 working in the sheriff's office, according to county records. 
State campaign disclosure forms show Walsh got more than $62,000 in pay in 2013 as Conservative Party chairman. He has led the county party for eight years. Suffolk has the largest Conservative Party in the state, with more than 22,000 members. Walsh, as chairman, is courted by Democratic and Republican candidates for his endorsements and also helps pick judges. 
DeMarco is a Conservative Party member. 
Walsh, 48, of East Islip, did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday. His attorney, Frank Tinari, did not respond to a request for comment. 
Walsh told Newsday previously that he works as a liaison between the courts and Suffolk's jails and investigates complaints, gangs and other security issues in the jails. 
Suspension 'won't sit well' 
Michael D. O'Donohoe, a longtime Conservative committeeman and former legislator, said Walsh's suspension will continue to raise questions among party members. "The fact he was suspended won't sit well with the rank and file Conservatives," said O'Donohoe, the Suffolk commissioner of jurors. 
Walsh also has come under fire from Suffolk County Democrats, and legislative allies cited Walsh's past legal issues in questioning how he could become a high-ranking official at the county jail. 
Newsday and News 12 Long Island reported June 5 that Walsh was arrested in 1984 while he was a University of Maryland student and sentenced to 12 months' probation in a misdemeanor sex offense. He did not disclose the Maryland arrest on his application to the sheriff's department, as is required. 
Tinari said in a letter earlier this month the Maryland charge "was ultimately dismissed, sealed and expunged." Tinari, also the Huntington Town Conservative Party leader, said Walsh's initial application "was thoroughly vetted and he has served without incident for 24 years." 
A 1990 letter from sheriff's Lieutenant Investigator Frank Jenkins said that in 1988 the New York City Police Department found Walsh "not qualified due to an unauthorized substance in his system during his health examination." 
Didn't submit prescription 
The drug for which Walsh tested positive, phenobarbital, is a central nervous system depressant with a potential for abuse, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Walsh said he doesn't use recreational drugs and had been prescribed the phenobarbital but couldn't remember why. 
Jenkins wrote that Walsh had "the opportunity to submit a valid prescription to overturn his disqualification" for the NYPD job but was "unable to produce one." Walsh said he missed the deadline to submit his prescription. Walsh said he failed to appeal the decision because he was young. 
Walsh was arrested on felony criminal mischief charges in 1989, less than a year before he applied to work for the sheriff's office. He pleaded guilty to a violation. 
Two years ago, Suffolk County law enforcement officials raided a Medford business and found illegal gambling, drugs and more than two dozen people, including Walsh. Although he was not among those arrested, Walsh's presence amid illegal activity sparked an investigation. The results have never been made public. 
Walsh noted that he was neither handcuffed nor arrested. "It's absolutely not illegal to play cards," he said.

Edward Walsh, Suffolk Conservative leader, suspended from sheriff's department job

Evidence is mounting that Suffolk County Conservative Party chairman Edward Walsh, also a Suffolk County corrections lieutenant, needs to be let go. From both roles. The next question is whether there should be a criminal investigation of all the conflicts that can pop up when party and patronage intertwine. 
A sheriff's office internal investigation has led to the arrest of corrections officer Steven Compitello, charged with third-degree grand larceny. Compitello, who earned $226,000 from the corrections department last year, $85,000 of it in overtime, is accused of working as a security guard for the Connetquot School District while claiming to be on the job for the county. He denies the allegation. 
Three other corrections officers are under investigation, one of them Walsh. According to records obtained by Newsday, Walsh attended a Feb. 21 meeting with Oheka Castle owner and power broker Gary Melius at the Shirley headquarters of Interceptor Ignition Interlocks to offer "moral support" to Melius, who was involved in litigation over the company. The meeting occurred while Walsh was on the county's clock. Walsh said he was on his lunch break, and the meeting lasted 15 minutes. Other attendees said it lasted at least 45. 
Records and surveillance also indicate instances in which Walsh was at a poker game or political event while on the county clock. Even if the allegations were proven, Walsh's chairmanship, and the politics of Long Island and its minor parties, would complicate matters. 
Walsh, who earned $282,000 from corrections last year (including $51,000 in overtime), was also paid at least $62,000 as chairman of the Suffolk Conservative Party in 2013. While Suffolk Sheriff Vincent DeMarco is Walsh's boss at corrections, Walsh is the political boss of DeMarco, a registered Conservative who was cross-endorsed on the Independence, Republican and Democratic ballot lines in his 2013 re-election. 
So the problems and iffy relationships go well beyond inflated paychecks. The Conservative and Independence parties on Long Island -- sometimes working together -- have amassed extraordinary political power, not through attraction to their ideals, but by manipulating the process. Party leaders control judgeships and, at times, legislative seats, as well as plenty of public jobs. They do so by providing their ballot lines to those who proffer the best deals, often leaving voters with no real choices in elections. 
Cross-endorsements should be outlawed in New York. Every party should have to put up its own candidate on its own line. 
As for the relationships, they can be mind boggling. Suffolk County Independence Party chairman Frank MacKay is also close to Melius. A judge who oversaw the Interlock case that was the subject of the meeting Walsh attended with Melius is a political ally of MacKay. MacKay's wife works in corrections with DeMarco and Walsh. And so on and so on. 
All this smoke could be the sign of a firestorm of political wheeling and dealing, one that is likely to demand an aggressive prosecutor to bring it under control. Walsh's party endorsed Suffolk County District Attorney Thomas Spota. That alone is not enough to warrant a probe being handled by a district attorney from another county, but the public needs to be assured that the spoils of endorsements never reach a prosecutor's front door.

VPWALSH09

Editorial: Fire officer-party leader from both jobs

Suffolk Conservative chairman Edward Walsh may be the head of a minor party, but his clout is so far-reaching that the Suffolk sheriff's probe of whether Walsh was paid for time he did not work is shaking up the entire Long Island political landscape. 
"It puts everyone in a delicate position," said John Gallagher, a former Suffolk County police commissioner and deputy county executive. "And it shows you how intricate this maze of interwoven party relationships is." 
Those relationships exist because the Conservatives often do not put forward their own candidates but instead cross-endorse major party contenders, mainly Republicans. In other cases, the major parties back the Conservatives' choice, or Conservatives are rewarded with patronage jobs after the election. 
Walsh, 48, a correction lieutenant who stands 6-foot-5, has a dominating and often combative personality. In his eight years as party chairman, Walsh has done battle with Suffolk's powerful Police Benevolent Association, throwing out 1,400 union members who had enrolled in the Conservative Party in 2009 in an attempt to take it over. He also has fought with Nassau Republican chairman Joseph Mondello. Three years ago, Mondello broke a finger punching a locker during a telephone screaming match with Walsh over 2012 judicial cross-endorsements. 
What makes Walsh so formidable is that he heads the largest Conservative county organization in New York State. The Suffolk Conservatives have 22,561 members, more than twice the number in either Nassau or Westchester, and more than in all of New York City. 
More important, the Suffolk Conservatives get out the vote. Last year, Democratic District Attorney Thomas Spota, Republican Treasurer Angie Carpenter and Conservative Sheriff Vincent DeMarco, all cross-endorsed, each got more than 13 percent of their vote from the Conservative line. 
For Spota, it meant nearly 25,000 votes.Walsh declined to comment, but Michael Torres, a close ally and Islip Conservative chairman, said: "We have never done better under any other chairman" and Walsh will survive. "Ed has told the truth. When all is said and done, it will be nothing." 
In Nassau and Suffolk, where Democrats now outnumber Republicans, the Conservative line is often the electoral life preserver for GOP contenders seeking more than 50 percent of the vote. 
"The Conservative Party has always played a very pivotal role for the Republicans," said Desmond Ryan, a veteran Republican lobbyist. "The worry once was, could they lose the endorsement?" Ryan said of candidates. "The question now: Is the situation so hot they don't want the endorsement?" 
In investigating whether Walsh collected wages for hours he did not work, DeMarco is probing his own party leader, who has worked for him for more than eight years. DeMarco could face criticism for going too soft, or retribution from Walsh loyalists within the party when he seeks renomination. 
Paul Sabatino, ex-Suffolk chief deputy county executive, says DeMarco may come out of the controversy "as a sheriff on a white horse, cleaning things up." But Walsh's battles with police, and the parties' endorsements of officials, prosecutors and judges, pose a potential minefield in how authorities should proceed. 
Others call the controversy surrounding Walsh further evidence that New York State -- like more than 40 others nationwide -- should bar cross-endorsements because they give minor parties influence far beyond their numbers. 
"Republicans . . . and Democrats should run on their own party line and whoever wins, so be it," said Legis. Thomas Barraga (R-West Islip). "But it will never happen in New York because every party thinks they need a minor line to win."

Columnists

POPOL04

Edward Walsh probe shows minor party can cause major complications

Suffolk County Conservative Party chairman Edward Walsh, a lieutenant in the county corrections department, is among the targets of an investigation into whether sheriff's office employees collected wages for hours they did not work, Newsday has learned. 
The investigation by the sheriff's internal affairs bureau resulted in the arrest Friday of former correction officer Steven Compitello and the transfer of his supervisor. At least three other officers, including Walsh, are facing scrutiny for hours they claimed to have worked and for how their time sheets were approved, according to a source familiar with the investigation. 
Sheriff Vincent DeMarco declined to identify the employees still under investigation. 
However, DeMarco confirmed that he initiated the inquiry after Newsday reported in February that Walsh attended a Feb. 21 meeting with Oheka Castle owner Gary Melius. The newspaper subsequently filed a Freedom of Information request with the sheriff's office for Walsh's 2014 schedule and time sheet to determine whether Walsh was supposed to be at work during the 11 a.m. meeting. 
According to the records obtained by Newsday, Walsh was scheduled to work that day from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and his time sheet reflects that he had been at work during those hours. 
A source familiar with the sheriff's department probe said investigators are reviewing several similar allegations regarding Walsh. The investigators have already determined that Walsh attended a political event in February at Captain Bill's, a Bay Shore restaurant, but his time sheet shows he was at work during the event. 
Walsh denied any suggestion that his time sheets showed that he was working when he was not. "I was never on the clock anywhere but where I was supposed be," Walsh said. 
The investigation of Walsh's work hours is significant not only because he is a midlevel sheriff's office employee, but also because of his role as the head of Suffolk's Conservative Party. Politicians running for office court his party's endorsement, and Walsh negotiates with leaders of the county's Democrat and Republican parties over the selection of judges, giving him considerable influence over that process. 
Also notable is that although DeMarco is Walsh's superior in the sheriff's office, Walsh is essentially the political boss of DeMarco, a fellow member of the Conservative Party. 
Walsh has twice approved cross-endorsement deals that allowed DeMarco to run unopposed in 2009 and 2013. 
Walsh also fought a two-year battle with the Suffolk Police Benevolent Association, which sought to unseat DeMarco in 2008 after he implemented the plan of then-County Executive Steve Levy to have deputies patrol highways instead of police officers. 
Walsh, who has worked at the sheriff's office for 23 years, earned $282,324, including $51,479 in overtime, in 2013, according to county payroll records. He said he currently works as a liaison between the courts and Suffolk's jails and investigates complaints, gangs and other security issues in the jails. 
In addition to his salary from the sheriff's office, campaign disclosure forms show Walsh received at least $62,000 in 2013 as chairman of Suffolk's Conservative Party, which he has led for the past eight years. 
While not commenting on Walsh directly, DeMarco said he felt hurt that employees he and the taxpayers placed their trust in would betray that trust for financial gain. 
"It breaks my heart that there is any stain on the sheriff's office," said DeMarco, who has worked at the agency for almost 20 years, including the past eight as sheriff. "But if there are people doing wrong I want to obviously catch them, stop it and if they deserve to be punished . . . that's what's going to happen." 
Meeting with Melius 
The Feb. 21 meeting Walsh said he attended with Melius was held at the Shirley headquarters of Interceptor Ignition Interlocks, which makes ignition-locking devices intended to curb drunken driving. 
Melius had recently won control of the firm from founder John Ruocco in a contentious civil court proceeding that has since been sealed by a judge at the request of Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota. 
The reason Spota wanted the case sealed was also ordered sealed. 
Three days after Walsh and Melius attended the meeting, a masked assailant shot Melius in the head outside of Oheka Castle. Melius survived the attack and the shooter is still at large. 
In the days after the attempt on Melius' life, Walsh told Newsday that he attended the Interceptor meeting to offer Melius "moral support." 
"I expected some drama, but it didn't really give it," Walsh said at the time. "It was pretty blah, pretty uneventful." 
Last week, after a reporter informed Walsh that his time sheet showed he was at work during the meeting, Walsh said he spent 15 minutes at the meeting during his lunch break. Walsh's allotted lunch break is 30 minutes long, according to the source familiar with the investigation. 
According to shareholders in attendance, the meeting lasted about 45 minutes. 
Walsh said he could not remember where he was before the meeting or whether he returned to work at one of the sheriff's facilities in Yaphank or Riverhead after he left the meeting. 
"I don't recall which way I was going -- Yaphank, Riverhead, whatever, lunch. I don't know where I was going," Walsh said. 
Walsh, according to the source familiar with the sheriff's investigation, also attended the Islip Town Republican Committee fundraiser at Captain Bill's, which began at 6 p.m. on Feb. 27. Walsh was scheduled to work from 2 to 10 p.m. that day, and his time sheet shows that he worked the entire shift. 
Walsh said he could not confirm whether he was at Captain Bill's because he attends at least 100 political events each year. 
"I've been to a few events at Captain Bill's this year. Like I said, I go to lots of events," Walsh said. "The 27th? I don't know one day from the next." 
Playing poker 
On March 20, a Thursday, Walsh was scheduled to work at the sheriff's office from 2 until 10 p.m. Newsday witnessed Walsh entering a closed, private business in East Islip at 8:30 that night and photographed him leaving shortly after midnight. 
Walsh said he was playing cards, something he regularly does on Thursday nights. 
"Do I play poker with my friends on Thursday nights? Yeah, we've been doing that for a while," Walsh said. 
Walsh's time sheet shows on that Thursday, he took 31/2 hours off for the card game. However, Walsh's records show that was the only time between January and March 2014 that he took time off on a Thursday night, including three other nights he was scheduled to work until 10 p.m. 
DeMarco declined to say whether Walsh's Thursday night card games are currently under review, but he said a credible allegation will be "fully investigated, just as it was in the other case with Compitello." 
"If he [Walsh] says he's at the game, and he is supposed to be at work, it is something we would have to look into," DeMarco said. 
Along with Walsh, Richard Clark, a fellow correction officer, was photographed by Newsday outside the Thursday night poker game. Clark was scheduled to work that night and did not use vacation time to cover the absence, according to records obtained by Newsday. 
County payroll records show Clark earned $169,053 in 2013, including $37,850 in overtime. He has worked for the sheriff's office for 13 years, according to Civil Service records. 
Clark declined to comment for this story and said questions should be directed to the sheriff's office administration. 
Walsh said he is able to attend events that would otherwise appear to conflict with a daily work schedule because of his rotating shift of two weeks of day shifts and one week of night shifts. He said he also has several vacation days he has to take each year or lose. 
Walsh added there could be confusion with his time sheets because the warden will sometimes order him to work a day shift, even when he's scheduled to work at night, so he can give judges a tour of a jail facility. 
Warden Charles Ewald did not return calls seeking comment. 
'They're stealing tax dollars' 
DeMarco said it is a priority for him to get back any money stolen from the county, and that his investigation is examining how employees were able to claim hours they did not work for so long. 
"We are still looking internally at how something like this could slip through the cracks," DeMarco said. "We are still looking to see how something like this could actually happen." 
DeMarco said his staff created a new, computerized payroll system that will soon completely replace the current system, which relies on paper records. The new system is not only aiding the current investigation, DeMarco said, but may help prevent similar abuses in the future. 
DeMarco said Compitello, who was arrested Friday, is accused of working as a security guard for the Connetquot School District during hours he claimed to be working for the county. 
Compitello, 53, of Hill Drive in Bohemia, pleaded not guilty Saturday in First District Court in Central Islip to one count of third-degree grand larceny, a felony. He was released on $5,000 cash bail. 
DeMarco said Compitello resigned Thursday morning when he was told the sheriff's office would move to fire him. 
According to court records, Compitello collected wages for hours he did not work from Sept. 15, 2011, to April 3 that totaled more than $3,000, which is the minimum for the third-degree grand larceny charge. He was hired for the Connetquot job Sept. 14, 2011, according to Civil Service records. 
Compitello was paid $84,936 in overtime in 2013, the 16th-highest amount of any county employee. He earned a total of $225,974 that year. 
Daniel Papele, the commanding officer of the Yaphank jail facility where Compitello worked, has also been transferred from his post, DeMarco said. 
Compitello and Papele could not be reached for comment. 
Compitello's attorney, Thomas Spreer of Babylon, said in court Saturday that his client "is a very good man" who has "never been in any trouble." He said he will investigate the allegations against Compitello and address them. 
DeMarco said he was troubled by Compitello's actions. He said he had to put a stop to the egregious behavior. 
"It's extremely disappointing to me and his co-workers and it's extremely disappointing to the taxpayers," DeMarco said. "We will continue to hold people's feet to the fire here. We're not going to let the bad apples spoil the whole bunch." 
Legis. Kate M. Browning (WF-Shirley), the chair of Suffolk County's Public Safety Committee, praised DeMarco for taking action and said law enforcement should be held to higher standards on issues like falsifying time cards. "When people in the county are stealing time, they're stealing tax dollars," Browning said. "That money comes from our taxpayers."

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