“The taxpayers have been paying for this guy to allegedly do nothing.”
By Walter Pacheco and David Damron
Orlando Sentinel Staff Writers
ORLANDO, Fla. — Orange County Jail officials fired two corrections officers last year for collecting hundreds of dollars by falsifying their time sheets.
One of those officers, Donald Wallace, was offered his job back in a settlement that included back pay, but it isn’t clear why jail officials are willing to allow him back inside the jail.
The change of heart might have to do with a directive Corrections Chief Michael Tidwell sent to jail workers after Wallace’s dismissal, asking them to report payroll fraud to supervisors, without disciplinary action or dismissal.
It was a message some might have read as an offer of amnesty.
But top Orange County administrators shot down Wallace’s deal to return to work and said this week that he would have to fight for his job in an arbitration process.
“I decided, after reading the settlement, I’m not going to sign it,” County Administrator Ajit Lalchandani said. “I cannot condone payroll fraud.”
Tidwell, who sources say was involved in crafting the settlement, would not comment on the case, citing an ongoing investigation.
“We are unable to disclose any other information,” Tidwell spokeswoman Vanessa Miles said. Miles also would not release details of the settlement offer made to Wallace. The Orlando Sentinel requested a copy of the settlement offer, but officials did not produce it.
In September, a month after Wallace was handed his pink slip, Tidwell sent an e-mail to all corrections personnel advising them of the fraud investigations and proper time-sheet procedures.
Miles said the directive included a one-time offer: If other corrections officers falsified payroll records, they could reimburse the jail and keep their jobs.
Public Safety Director Mike McCoy said he respects Lalchandani’s refusal to bring Wallace back on the job, and that jail officials will abide by an ultimate arbitration ruling.
“If we have to bring him back, we’ll do it,” McCoy said. “But there are just some things you can not bend on.”
The case emerged in August 2007, when jail officials say they discovered that Wallace and Cpl. Kelly Ragan had lied on their time sheets.
Wallace checked in and out, without actually performing any work at the jail, 29 times during two months, reports show. Surveillance cameras caught Wallace checking in and never returning eight times, according to an internal jail report.
“You knowingly committed payroll fraud and lost your personal integrity,” the report from the investigation reads.
In Ragan’s case, he had visited a female inmate at the Osceola County Jail, with whom he was having a relationship, seven times while he was on the clock.
Ragan was fired Aug. 2 and Wallace on Aug. 13. Wallace and his attorney could not be reached for comment.
Grand-theft charges were filed against both men, but the State Attorney’s Office dropped the charges in March because of an absence of evidence or lack of records, agency spokeswoman Danielle Tavernier said.
Lalchandani and an official in the Orange County Comptroller’s Office also raised concerns about whether Tidwell or McCoy had the authority to approve such a settlement.
Chief Deputy Comptroller Jim Moye said the larger issue is what kind of message rehiring Wallace sent to other jail workers and the public.
“The taxpayers have been paying for this guy to allegedly do nothing,” Moye said of the settlement deal. “They are not going to go for that.”
Copyright 2008 Sentinel Communications Co.