As expected, suspended Key West police officer Thomas Neary was fired Wednesday for telling people he was an undercover federal agent investigating corruption in the Police Department and looking into possible terrorist attacks.
The department put Neary on paid administrative leave Oct. 26 after FBI Special Agent Kevin White interviewed him about the complaints. Interim Police Chief Donie Lee recommended firing Neary in May, but Lee was waiting for consent from City Attorney Shawn Smith to draft a termination letter.
Wednesday, Lee sent the nine-page letter highlighting the department's allegations against Neary and his uncooperative behavior in an Internal Affairs investigation after his suspension.
On May 29, Capt. Frank Sauer wrote his finding of facts on the Neary case, stating "there is a preponderance of evidence that officer Thomas Neary did represent himself falsely as: an agent, associate, representative or operative of the federal government...."
Sauer's findings also stated that Neary, a Big Pine Key resident, convinced fellow and former officers and a supervisor that "this information was to be kept confidential between him and the witness officers."
For those reasons and others, Neary's behavior was deemed "unbecoming conduct" but not "unlawful conduct."
The letter also states that Neary's attorney, Michael Barnes, sent a list of "an additional 112 witnesses that he now wanted to be interviewed, including Officer Neary." Barnes has refused to discuss the case with the Keynoter.
The Neary investigation even involved bugging Lt. Kathleen Ream's office to record conversations she had with him. Transcripts from the bugging show some statements that indicate Neary told Ream he and his wife are federal agents. Barnes has questioned the validity of those transcripts, saying the department altered them.
Some of the alleged statements in the investigative summary have Neary talking about high-ranking law enforcement officers and city officials.
In a casual conversation before the investigation began, "Officer Neary told [detective Bradley Lariz] that he had [City Commissioner Mark Rossi's] plane and house bugged and that they were watching him. He also told Lariz that he was watching and doing an investigation on Sgt. Robert Allen."
It's not clear what he was inferring with Rossi, but with Allen, he allegedly accused the sergeant of transporting drugs to Cuba in a police boat.
"It's just incredible." Rossi said. "It's just incredible allegations."
Neary and Barnes didn't show up for Neary's predetermination hearing last week and refused to participate when they attended a scheduled interview for the Internal Affairs investigation in May.
The city's investigation followed one conducted by the FBI into the same claims. The FBI said the evidence against Neary didn't rise to the level of criminal.
No comments:
Post a Comment