By Michele Reaves
Staff writer
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — A former North Syracuse police officer pleaded guilty Monday to charges that he had subordinates sign documents to make it look as if he was working when he wasn’t.
Former Sgt. Daniel Keefe, of Brewerton, made no comments other than to accept the terms of the plea deal.
Onondaga County Judge Joseph Fahey sentenced him to a one-year conditional discharge and $160 surcharge. Keefe also will formally resign from the North Syracuse Police Department.
Neither he nor his lawyer, Robert Tisdell, would comment afterward.
Keefe supervised the North Syracuse Police Department’s overnight shift and was accused of leaving work early and having subordinate officers log him off at the end of his shift repeatedly during 2004 and 2005.
Keefe was terminated from the police force in January, North Syracuse police Chief Tom Connelly said in a phone interview. The judge’s decision, which requires Keefe to resign, ends Keefe’s option for arbitration to get his job back, Connelly said.
Keefe worked for the North Syracuse Police Department 19 years.
Two others were charged in the time-sheet fraud case. The trial for retired North Syracuse Police Chief David Wilkinson, who also served as the Marcellus police chief, and North Syracuse police Capt. Michael Casey, who served as second-in-command for the Marcellus Police Department, is scheduled for Oct. 22. Both are accused of defrauding the government and official misconduct for filing false time sheets to inflate their pay.
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