By Brendan J. Lyons
Times Union
ALBANY, NY — A Rensselaer County jail sergeant pleaded guilty Monday to a misdemeanor charge in Troy City Court, settling a case in which he was charged with improperly using a law enforcement database to check the background of a man acquainted with his ex-girlfriend.
The jail officer, Anthony Patricelli, 46, was accused of instructing a subordinate officer, Wendy Veiga, to run the Florida man’s criminal history in February. Patricelli also asked Veiga to file an official document indicating the background check was needed to check the criminal history of a new inmate, which was false, according to the charges.
Patricelli initially was charged with two felonies, but Monday’s plea is not expected to result in any jail time and he will be able to return to work, said his attorney, Joseph Ahearn.
The case was problematic because Patricelli was legally compelled to truthfully answer questions about the incident when he was interviewed by internal affairs investigators, Ahearn said. Under state law, those statements cannot be used against a law enforcement officer as part of a related criminal case. But prosecutors have said the interview was not part of an employee disciplinary matter and was a criminal investigation.
“Tony was very interested in having his day in court due to some of the drastic procedural errors that we believe were committed in the investigation and prosecution of this matter,” Ahearn said. “However, Tony cannot run the risk of losing his pension and was interested in returning to his job as soon as possible. This disposition will permit him to go back to work.”
In May, Sheriff Jack Mahar said the allegations were being handled internally as a “training issue” and that Patricelli would not face discipline or criminal charges. But District Attorney Richard McNally, who learned about the allegations around the time details were first published by the Times Union, launched a criminal investigation.
The Florida man whose criminal history was accessed, Peter Colantonio, 45, said he filed a complaint with the district attorney’s office last spring after details of the incident were published in a newspaper. Colantonio said he grew up in Troy and went to high school with Patricelli.
Patricelli initially was charged with computer trespass and falsifying government records, felonies, and official misconduct, a misdemeanor. He pleaded guilty to a single count of unauthorized use of a computer.
The state Department of Criminal Justice Services’ database — eJusticeNY — is used by police agencies, including jails, to run criminal background checks. State regulations prohibit accessing the information for personal or non-law-enforcement purposes.
The charges against Patricelli were filed in June, four months after he was arrested by State Police for allegedly threatening in a telephone call to break the jaw of a jail officer, John Gorman, who is the brother of Patricelli’s ex-girlfriend, Kim Gorman. Patricelli and Kim Gorman have a child together. That case, in which Patricelli is charged with misdemeanor aggravated harassment, is expected to be resolved next month with an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal in Schaghticoke town court, Ahearn said.