Henson, Cook, Garafola get suspended sentences, probation, must repay fuel card misuse Times report INDEPENDENCE—Town maintenance supervisor John Henson, 49, pleaded no contest to charges related to using town of Independence fuel cards for personal use along with town employees Jeffers Cook, 55, and Charles Garafola, 55. The three were sentenced Monday, August 5 by Judge Doug Hughes to six-month jail terms, two years probation and ordered to repay. Hughes suspended the jail time. Assistant DA Pat Dunn prosecuted the case. All three must return to court Oct. 30 for monitoring. Only Garafola is still employed by the town of Independence, according to Mayor Mike Ragusa. Whether Garafola will be fired because of his no contest plea remains to be seen. The subject will likely be considered at the next town council meeting with Mayor Ragusa and town attorney Brett Duncan. A fourth town employee, Reginald Jefferson, 54, of Independence faces trial on September 16 on nine counts of unauthorized use of an access card. Because of the dollar amounts involved, all four individuals faced misdemeanor charges. However, District Attorney Scott Perrilloux and staff could choose the stack the nine charges for Jefferson to a felony level—or prosecute the charges as misdemeanors. Independence Police Chief Frank Edwards III said earlier in the spring that he first examined fuel card use by IPD officers and vehicles out of an abundance of caution. He found that IPD followed all the rules. Rumors of abuse of town fuel cards surfaced during the 2012 election. Town council member Calvin Batiste, who is also with the Tangipahoa Sheriff’s Office, said he reported the information. Chief Edwards assigned Capt. Chris Chappell to investigate. Chappell broke the case after viewing dozens of hours of video at QuickWay that showed drivers and vehicles refueling. The huge West Railroad Avenue station has maybe two dozen pumps. He also checked usage at John’s Exxon, both in Independence. Chappell compared fuel transaction records to identify town employees and the vehicles they refueled. In some cases, they refueled personal vehicles of their own or others. The charges stunned many in Independence. The four suspects were allowed to surrender on their own at Tangipahoa Parish Jail in Amite April 2. “We have been criticized for waiting in this investigation” said Edwards. “They weren’t a danger to anyone. We arranged for them to turn themselves in. They don’t have the cards. The total amount of fuel is about $1000 alleged to be taken via fleet cards used by town employees, according to Chief Edwards. Batiste said the investigation involved about 30 invoices for probably $1,000. Henson continued to work as manager overseeing streets, water, sewer and maintenance. Henson, of Roseland, is incoming chairman of the 2014 Sicilian Heritage Festival and active in many community events and activities. He used town funds to buy an alternator for his personal vehicle, according to the DA’s office. Henson pleaded no contest to two counts of unauthorized use of an access card and one count of theft under $500. Cook, of Independence, pleaded no contest to three counts of unauthorized use of an access card. He worked for the street department. Garafola, of Hammond, pleaded no contest two counts of unauthorized use of an access card. He worked for the sewer department. The IPD narrative says this: “The misuse involves the fuel being pumped into personal vehicles belonging to the town employees, also being pumped into unknown other vehicles with the town employee utilizing the card and in some cases an unknown person using the town’s gas card to pump fuel into vehicles.” The FuelTrac cards allow companies, government agencies and other institutions to use a card for fuel fleet vehicles. The thefts occurred at QuickWay, corner of West Railroad Avenue and LA 40, within sight of IPD and a couple blocks north of Independence City Hall. And at John’s Exxon, also on West Railroad Avenue. Since the charges, Mayor Ragusa said he and town clerk Arlene Hall have taken steps to tighten oversight of fuel cards
Posted on: Wed, 07 Aug 2013 02:01:53 +0000
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