New York State Inspector General Catherine Leahy Scott today announced the guilty pleas of a New York State print shop supervisor and an accomplice who used the state employee’s government position and government equipment to run their own private printing business on the side.
Kevin Spearmon, 58, of Townhouse Road, Huntington Station, a print shop supervisor with the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (“OPRHP”), pleaded guilty today in District Court of Suffolk County First District to Official Misconduct, a misdemeanor. The plea was part of a prearranged agreement following Spearmon’s arrest last year and his subsequent retirement from state service. The agreement also included Spearmon serving three years of probation, 140 hours of community service, and paying $4,079.78 in restitution for the printing costs incurred by the State.
Spearmon’s accomplice, Phillip Russell, 63, of Clinton Avenue, Bayshore, was arrested and pleaded guilty last week to Petit Larceny, Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the Fifth Degree, and Theft of Services, misdemeanors.
An investigation by Inspector General Leahy Scott found that Spearmon and Russell, who is not a State employee, together used state print shop facilities located at the OPRHP regional headquarters at Belmont Lake State Park in North Babylon to run their own private printing business from December 2015 through August 2017. They produced numerous jobs including funeral pamphlets and programs used by churches and fraternal organizations under private contract.
“These defendants abused State time and resources for their own personal business enterprise and violated the public trust in doing so,” said Inspector General Leahy Scott. “I will use all resources available to me to put a stop to any corrupt use of State property and hold anyone accountable for such practices.”
Inspector General Leahy Scott thanked the New York State Parks Police for their assistance with the investigation and Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini and his office for prosecuting this matter.
