Geneseo, N.Y. -- Top county officials confirm a “confidential investigation” is underway and they intend to “pursue it vigorously.”
Those were the exact words of Livingston County Administrator Ian Coyle when asked about a GeneseeSun.com news report first published Thursday night.
"I can tell you what the County Administrator said,” Livingston County Sheriff John York added when asked. “We are actively pursuing an investigation and allegations of wrongdoing by staff within the jail, of timecard mismanagement, and we are looking into those allegations. We will continue to look into it until we bring this entire investigation to resolve.”
It was GeneseeSun.com reporter-owner Josh Williams who first broke the story.
"When I reported on this story I back-checked, I double-checked, I found multiple sources that confirmed this all speaking on condition of anonymity that backed this up,” Williams told 13WHAM News on Friday. “It's my job to make sure that I get the facts straight and I take a lot of pride in the responsibility in which I ran the story with.”
According to Williams’ report the allegations made to county leaders involve part-time deputies working shifts for full-time deputies. In return they’d be paid cash by the full-timer whose timecard would still reflect that the full-timer worked the shift.
“That is a serious allegation and that's a serious fraud,” Williams said of his report. “We're talking felony frauds here so this is big; this is a really big deal for our area.”
"Obviously with personnel and internal investigations until all the facts are determined it's very hard to make any assumptions on anybody's part,” Sheriff York said. “We'll do the investigation, we'll handle it appropriately if wrongdoing's been found those committing wrongdoing will be held accountable, it's just that simple here.”
