Post by KC on Aug 17, 2006 23:19:53 GMT -5
August 18, 2006 - Cleveland police Sgt. John Mokri, a 36-year veteran of the force, pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges of overtime abuse.
Officer Mokri agreed to repay the city $6,329.29 - the amount he fraudulently claimed in overtime - and retire Aug. 28 as part of the plea agreement, said police spokesman Sgt. Daniel Fay.
Mokri pleaded guilty in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court to two counts of tampering with records. He was also given two years of probation and two six-month suspended jail sentences.
Mokri, 65, could not be reached for comment.
He is the second officer charged as part of the probe headed by Lt. James Muhic and special prosecutor Lynn Grimshaw, the former Scioto County prosecutor. A Plain Dealer investigation into overtime abuses prompted the probe.
Retired Sgt. Allen J. Travis was indicted in January on a theft in office charge, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. He is to stand trial Sept. 6.
Investigators found that Mokri filed for overtime 57 times, claiming he was meeting with Robert Cummings, executive secretary for Bluecoats, an organization that helps families of dead police officers, according to the investigators' report. Information Cummings gave investigators contradicted Mokri's claims.
www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1155804668289970.xml&coll=2
Officer Mokri agreed to repay the city $6,329.29 - the amount he fraudulently claimed in overtime - and retire Aug. 28 as part of the plea agreement, said police spokesman Sgt. Daniel Fay.
Mokri pleaded guilty in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court to two counts of tampering with records. He was also given two years of probation and two six-month suspended jail sentences.
Mokri, 65, could not be reached for comment.
He is the second officer charged as part of the probe headed by Lt. James Muhic and special prosecutor Lynn Grimshaw, the former Scioto County prosecutor. A Plain Dealer investigation into overtime abuses prompted the probe.
Retired Sgt. Allen J. Travis was indicted in January on a theft in office charge, a felony that carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. He is to stand trial Sept. 6.
Investigators found that Mokri filed for overtime 57 times, claiming he was meeting with Robert Cummings, executive secretary for Bluecoats, an organization that helps families of dead police officers, according to the investigators' report. Information Cummings gave investigators contradicted Mokri's claims.
www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/cuyahoga/1155804668289970.xml&coll=2