Post by KC on Jun 15, 2006 23:01:51 GMT -5
State police officer suspended over 23 charges of misconduct
Lt. Thomas Ceja, former director of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's security unit, has been suspended for three months without pay for misconduct. A State Police Merit Board hearing officer found evidence to substantiate 23 of 48 charges against Ceja.
Among substantiated charges, Ceja:
_Arranged a state-paid trip to Chicago in June 2004 with a 22-year-old female intern, ostensibly to attend a meeting although the meeting was canceled before they left Springfield. They attended the symphony and dinner at a "ritzy" restaurant, and Ceja later submitted an inaccurate travel voucher for hotel expenses.
_Improperly socialized with the intern outside of the office.
_Gave a civilian Blagojevich aide access to a meeting that the Secret Service had declared off limits.
_Failed to file in a timely manner a written report on the theft of a loaded handgun and handcuffs from his vehicle during a June 2003 trip to Los Angeles.
_Ordered deletion of information from official logs about an August 2004 accident between two squad cars.
_Allowed a member of the governor's staff to drive his car during a trip to Washington, D.C.
_Lied to state police investigators about his activities on three occasions (but was cleared of lying on three other occasions).
_Allowed subordinates to become deficient in their training.
Ceja was cleared of wrongdoing in:
_Accepting skybox tickets to a heavyweight boxing match in June 2003 in Los Angeles from a businessman seeking assistance from Blagojevich.
_Spending an extra night in California at state expense to attend the match. The extra night had been planned and approved.
_Transporting civilians to and from their residences and allowing subordinates to transfer family members in state vehicles.
_Attending or failing to require subordinates attend specific training sessions.
Lt. Thomas Ceja, former director of Gov. Rod Blagojevich's security unit, has been suspended for three months without pay for misconduct. A State Police Merit Board hearing officer found evidence to substantiate 23 of 48 charges against Ceja.
Among substantiated charges, Ceja:
_Arranged a state-paid trip to Chicago in June 2004 with a 22-year-old female intern, ostensibly to attend a meeting although the meeting was canceled before they left Springfield. They attended the symphony and dinner at a "ritzy" restaurant, and Ceja later submitted an inaccurate travel voucher for hotel expenses.
_Improperly socialized with the intern outside of the office.
_Gave a civilian Blagojevich aide access to a meeting that the Secret Service had declared off limits.
_Failed to file in a timely manner a written report on the theft of a loaded handgun and handcuffs from his vehicle during a June 2003 trip to Los Angeles.
_Ordered deletion of information from official logs about an August 2004 accident between two squad cars.
_Allowed a member of the governor's staff to drive his car during a trip to Washington, D.C.
_Lied to state police investigators about his activities on three occasions (but was cleared of lying on three other occasions).
_Allowed subordinates to become deficient in their training.
Ceja was cleared of wrongdoing in:
_Accepting skybox tickets to a heavyweight boxing match in June 2003 in Los Angeles from a businessman seeking assistance from Blagojevich.
_Spending an extra night in California at state expense to attend the match. The extra night had been planned and approved.
_Transporting civilians to and from their residences and allowing subordinates to transfer family members in state vehicles.
_Attending or failing to require subordinates attend specific training sessions.