The Shumlin administration told reporters on Tuesday that James Deeghan, a former trooper who is accused of padding his timesheets and creating fraudulent crime incidents, used duplicate timesheets.
The second set of records has complicated the investigation, Gov. Peter Shumlin said, but he pledged that the internal probe will be completed by Aug. 3 at which time the evidence will be turned over to Deeghan’s defense attorneys. The Vermont State Police, which is treating the timesheet records as evidence, will not be releasing the information to the press until the attorneys have received the material.
The case will be prosecuted by TJ Donovan, Chittenden County state’s attorney, and a candidate for Vermont attorney general. Donovan, who attended the press conference, said Deeghan faces a maximum sentence of five years in jail or a $10,000 fine for allegedly falsifying timesheets. Donovan said prosecutors are obligated to turn over every document to the defense and “we intend to do just that.”
At one point, the Vermont State Police had 21 officers investigating the Deeghan case. Now there are 16 involved in the probe, which entails a review of the last three years’ worth of timesheets filed by Deeghan. According to an affidavit released at the time of the former trooper was arraigned, Deeghan was a supervisor at the Williston barracks and sometimes signed his own timesheets. Two signatures from supervisors are required.
The state will conduct a review of all timesheets submitted by law enforcement at the Williston barracks for the the last six months. The investigation will extend to timesheets for all troopers for the last three months.
Keith Flynn, commissioner of the Department of Public Safety, said his employees are committed to getting to the bottom of the alleged falsifications made by Deeghan. His department, he said, is analyzing its internal control process to assure honesty in reporting.
“It’s important for us to remember … this one alleged incident of fraud does not define the state police,” Flynn said. “We’re going to be judged on how we move forward.” Flynn said it’s important to “the people who put on the uniform every day” to restore public trust.
Tom Salmon, the state auditor, will be conducting an independent audit, which he estimates will cost about $100,000. The audit will include a data analysis of timesheets submitted by the approximately 650 employees who work for the Department of Public Safety, Salmon said. The independent review will also extend to all state employees. The data analysis will go back a year, Salmon said.
Salmon says his office will be looking for anomalies, such as workers who hypothetically use a code to indicate they are snowplowing in the summertime or who automatically puts down 18 hours of overtime a week.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 5:54 a.m., July 26, 2012.
