By Kristin M. Kraemer
Tri-City Herald
BENTON COUNTY, Wash. — A Benton County corrections officer was fired Wednesday once prosecutors decided to charge him for allegedly falsifying a doctor’s note to return to work.
Gary A. Johnston, 31, had been on leave for a job-related injury but reportedly was given clearance to return in late March.
He is accused of altering that document to say he could only return to work on a limited basis. Then he created another document a few weeks later saying the same thing, said court records.
Johnston is charged in Benton County Superior Court with official misconduct, a gross misdemeanor. He is scheduled to appear June 26.
Johnston had worked in the county jail for 31/2 years.
“His employment was terminated immediately this morning,” after prosecutors made their decision to file charges, Sheriff Larry Taylor said Wednesday.
Court records state that Johnston was out on a state Department of Labor and Industries claim and was ordered to undergo an evaluation to see if he was ready to return. His doctor signed a letter March 28 saying Johnston was OK to go back to work.
Johnston claims his doctor gave him permission to change the form to add the conditions, but the doctor told investigators that was not true, sheriff’s Detective Bob Brockman wrote in court records.
In April, Johnston turned in another form reiterating that he could work but only on a limited basis, records said.
He allegedly created that document from a blank form.
“Bad choices on his part led to his termination,” said Taylor, who asked the prosecutor’s office to consider filing charges.
“He violated the integrity of the sheriff’s office, and he’ll be held accountable for it,” Taylor added.
Copyright 2008 Tri-City Herald