ROCHESTER – New York State Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott today announced the arrest of a New York State Office for People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) employee and her housemate on charges that they repeatedly used a government issued credit card to purchase gasoline for her personal vehicle.
Jeannie M. McNeil, 46, of Park Avenue, Medina, was charged with six counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a felony, eight counts of Petit Larceny and one count of Official Misconduct, misdemeanors. Her housemate, Albert John Pike, 46, was also charged with eight counts of Petit Larceny, a misdemeanor.
“These alleged acts reflect a brazen disregard for the public’s trust,” said Inspector General Leahy Scott. “I will continue to vigorously pursue any State worker showing such clear disdain for their responsibility as a public servant.”
McNeil, an OPWDD Habilitation Specialist at the Cornerstone Day Habilitation Center in Gates, and Pike were accused of using a State credit card to purchase gasoline for McNeil’s personal vehicle at gasoline stations in the towns of Gates and Sweden on eight different occasions between June 9, 2014 and August 28, 2014. The charges also accuse McNeil of falsely reporting to OPWDD that the purchases were for a State vehicle which she was sometimes assigned to transport residents of the Cornerstone facility or for other State business.
Inspector General Leahy Scott’s investigation found that McNeil drove a State vehicle to the gasoline stations where she met Pike, who would arrive with McNeil’s personal vehicle. McNeil then used the State credit card assigned to the State vehicle to activate the gasoline pump. McNeil then handed her accomplice, Pike, the gasoline pump. Pike used the gasoline pump to fuel McNeil’s personal vehicle. McNeil then falsely reported to OPWDD that she had fueled the State vehicle. McNeil is currently out on leave for an injury unrelated to the theft.
McNeil and Pike are to be arraigned tonight in Town of Gates Justice Court.
Inspector General Leahy Scott thanked OPWDD for their assistance in the investigation, the State Police for their assistance with the arrest, and Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley and her office for prosecuting the matter.
The defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty in a court of law.
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