Mike Randall
October 30, 2025
Five state correction officers working at prisons in Ulster County have been accused of scheming to obtain unearned sick leave and workers compensation benefits.
They were arrested following an 18-month investigation by the Offices of the State Inspector General into worker compensation abuses at the Ulster Correctional Facility and the Wallkill Correctional Facility.
Three of the defendants are alleged to have submitted forms purported to be signed by medical professionals attesting to examinations that never took place.
A fourth defendant, who asserted to his medical provider that he was 100 percent disabled due to a workplace eye injury, worked as a home health aide and was paid $4,500 by the state.
The fifth defendant is alleged to have submitted more than 20 forged sick leave medical notes over a two-year period, enabling him to collect unearned wages and take unpaid time off when he was scheduled to be at work.
Those arrested were Christine Donovan, 41, of Lake Katrine; Ashli Paulino, 36, of Mountaindale; Brian Porter, 49, of Monticello; and Anthony Tacti, 34, of Kerhonkson, who all worked at Ulster Correctional Facility; and Jeremy LaChance, 42, of Kerhonkson, who worked at Wallkill Correctional Facility.
All five were charged with first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, a felony. Donovan, LaChance and Tacti were also charged with third-degree grand larceny, a felony. Paulino and Porter also were charged with fourth-degree grand larceny, a felony.
Tacti was also charged with fraudulent practices, third-degree insurance fraud and health care fraud, all felonies.
Donovan, LaChance and Tacti were arraigned Oct. 29 before Town of Ulster Justice Susan Kesick and were released on their own recognizance pending future court appearances. Paulino and Porter were issued desk appearance tickets by the state police and will be arraigned at a later date.
The names of their attorneys were not immediately available.
Donovan and Porter previously were terminated by the state Department of Correction and Community Supervision; Paulino previously resigned from DOCCS; and LaChance and Tacti are still employed by the agency.
Ulster County District Attorney Emmanuel Nneji condemned the fraud and said it has far-reaching consequences for both DOCCS and the public.
"Workers compensation fraud is not a victimless crime," Nneji said in a statement. "Every dollar stolen through deceit is a dollar diverted from legitimate injury claims and essential state programs at a time of crisis.
"The fact that these schemes were perpetrated by sworn public officers who were entrusted with maintaining the safety and security of New York's correctional facilities and those within them makes the charged conduct even more egregious."
State Inspector General Lucy Lang added, "This conduct worsens already severe staffing shortages, undermines rehabilitation programming and jeopardizes the safety of both staff and the incarcerated population."
