Syracuse.com reports: “Former Syracuse police sergeant and U.S. Rep. John Katko staffer Thomas Connellan has been charged with grand larceny, according to Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick. Connellan is accused of stealing ‘well over $3,000’ from 2011 to 2014 from the state Department of Financial Services while being paid as a Syracuse police officer.”
Katko hired Connellan in December 2014 to manage his Syracuse district office before Connellan abruptly left at the end of last year.
A Katko spokesperson told Syracuse.com that the Congressman was “disappointed to learn of today’s charge.”
Below are some initial key questions for Congressman John Katko:
- Did Congressman John Katko or his staff know that Connellan had been stealing thousands of dollars from the state for years at the time he was hired to run Katko’s Syracuse district office?
- At what point did Congressman Katko or his staff know that Connellan was under investigation?
- Why did Congressman Katko only let go of Connellan towards the end of the investigation?
ICYMI – Ex-Syracuse police officer and ex-Katko staffer Thomas Connellan charged with grand larceny
Syracuse.com
By Douglass Dowty and John O’Brien
February 26, 2015
Syracuse, NY — Former Syracuse police sergeant and U.S. Rep. John Katko staffer Thomas Connellan has been charged with grand larceny, according to Onondaga County District Attorney William Fitzpatrick.
Connellan is accused of stealing “well over $3,000” from 2011 to 2014 from the state Department of Financial Services while being paid as a Syracuse police officer.
“Connellan is accused of getting compensated for services he performed for a job that he maintained with the New York State Department of Financial Services, while at the same time, he was being paid for the job he was supposed to be doing as a Syracuse Police Officer,” Fitzpatrick said in a news release.
“The scheme also includes allegations that Connellan submitted false documentation to the Department of Financial Services during the same time frame,” Fitzpatrick said. “Connellan is accused of theft from both the City of Syracuse and the State Department of Financial Services.”
Connellan was charged with taking pay from both jobs at the same time, according to court papers.
Connellan appears to being accused of stealing between $3,000 and $49,999. Under state law that’s the range for the charge he faces, third-degree grand larceny. If he was accused of stealing more than $50,000 he would have face a second-degree grand larceny charge.
Third-degree grand larceny is punishable by up to 7 years in prison, but no prison time is mandatory.
Connellan had a part-time security job for 17 years with the state banking agency, making a total of about $317,461 over those years — an average of $18,674 a year, according to records from the state obtained by Syracuse.com under an open records law request. That money counts toward his pension, state officials said.
His job was to drive to automated teller machines at banks across Central New York as a way for the state to test each bank’s security systems, according to sources familiar with the case.
Connellan would appear in front of an ATM, hold up a sign on which he’d handwritten a random message, like “Go Yankees,” sources said. The ATM would automatically take a picture of the sign, as they do whenever someone uses the machines.
State regulators would later ask the bank to find the photo of the sign to prove the bank was maintaining the ATM photos as they’re required to, according to sources.
Connellan is facing third-degree grand larceny, a felony. The news release does not describe exactly what Connellan is accused of doing for the state financial services department.
Connellan was quietly arraigned this afternoon in Syracuse City Court, a court clerk confirmed. Arraignments are routinely held at 2 p.m.
A DA’s office news release about his arrest came at 2:14 p.m., after Connellan’s court appearance was over.
His lawyer, Scott Brenneck, confirmed the arraignment, but declined to comment further.
Connellan did not immediately respond to calls from syracuse.com.
Connellan was the public face of the Syracuse Police Department for 14 years, serving as its spokesman from 2001 to 2015.
Connellan served as a police officer for 25 years, retiring as a sergeant. He also served as the commanding officer of the Syracuse Gang Violence Task Force.
U.S. Rep. John Katko hired Sgt.Tom Connellan in 2015 as his senior staffer in the 24th Congressional District. Connellan resigned early this year while under investigation.
The arrest follows a 6-month investigation.
Erin O’Connor, speaking for Katko, said today “after Mr. Connellan’s service to the city and to this district, Representative Katko was disappointed to learn of today’s charge.”
Connellan was placed on unpaid leave when Katko learned of the investigation, O’Connor said. Connellan subsequently resigned from Kako’s office.