"ANOTHER TOP COP GOES BAD"
"BADGE OF DISHONOR"
Under Sheriff Arrested and Indicted
October 16, 2003
By Brendan
Scott
Times Herald-Record
bscott@th-record.com
GOSHEN – An Orange County
grand jury has indicted former Sheriff Frank Bigger's longtime No. 2 man, John
Thompson of Montgomery, on numerous charges including conspiracy stemming from
Bigger's failed re-election campaign last year.
According to
prosecutors, the former undersheriff orchestrated a botched plot to get Bigger's
name on the Independence Party line by forging campaign petitions. The district
attorney's office blew the lid on the 14-month investigation yesterday when the
13-count indictment against Thompson was unsealed in Orange County Court.
The indictment
includes seven felonies and six misdemeanors, among them, conspiracy,
misconduct, and forgery. The heaviest charges carry a maximum sentence of seven
years in prison.
"It's very
serious," District Attorney Frank Phillips said. "It's not pleasant, but it's
something we have to do."
Bigger went on to
lose to Sheriff Carl DuBois in the Republican primary. Thompson, 55, now holds
the rank of sergeant under Sheriff Carl DuBois in the office he helped run as
undersheriff for years.
Thompson wore
civilian clothes as he strode into Judge Nicholas De Rosa's courtroom yesterday
to hear the charges against him.
Much of the
evidence supporting the indictment has yet to be made public. Essentially, the
document says that Thompson, among other things, ordered a lieutenant and a
secretary to forge signatures on the petitions in question and that he
personally filed them with the Board of Elections in Goshen.
After the
proceeding, Thompson and his wife ducked out a back entrance to avoid waiting
news photographers. They went to the Village of Goshen police station, where
Thompson was booked and fingerprinted.
Thompson's
attorney, Ben Ostrer of Chester, later dismissed the indictment. "I reviewed the
indictment and I'm extremely optimistic about my client's prospects in this
case," he said.
The case has been
the subject of political intrigue since the DuBois campaign first challenged the
campaign petitions of Bigger and Coroner Patrick Berardinelli Jr. in August
2002. As the district attorney's investigation lumbered on over the ensuing 14
months, some Bigger supporters and others professed its demise or brushed it off
as a political witch hunt.
Yesterday's
indictment was met with widespread surprise. But Phillips and Assistant District
Attorney David Hoovler, who is handling the case, say their investigation was
merely delayed last spring, when a key witness, Lt. Joseph Williams, died of an
accidental drug overdose. According to the indictment, Williams received the
order to forge the petition signatures from Thompson.
Phillips also made
a point of blaming a clique of deputies still loyal to former Sheriff Bigger for
hampering the investigation's progress.
"Several of these
individuals refused to cooperate or, in fact, gave false or misleading
information to the district attorney's office," said Phillips, adding that he
would forward the information to DuBois for review.
As for Thompson,
DuBois says he has been suspended, but will, at least for the time being,
continue to collect a salary from his $58,000-per-year job. He has 24 years on
the job and would be eligible for retirement next year.
But in-house
charges for Thompson and the other, unnamed deputies could follow.
"Sgt. Thompson is entitled to due process both criminally and administratively," DuBois said. "We'll give him the same consideration we'd give everybody else."
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