Top-ranking Fla. CO faces arrest for overtime pay

By ALLYSON BIRD
Palm Beach Post

PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A high-ranking Palm Beach County sheriff's official facing several felony charges was expected to turn herself in before a warrant is issued for her arrest.

The official, Lt. Sandra Nealy, who remained free as of Thursday night, declined comment. She and six co-workers at county corrections facilities fell under criminal and internal investigations for allegedly bilking the sheriff's office for as much as $400,000 in overtime pay.

The seven supervisors, all lieutenants and sergeants, were suspected of snatching up overtime shifts at hospitals before lower-paid deputies had a chance. They either worked the shifts themselves or held the spots for friends, officials said.

The cost of paying a lieutenant time and a half could be more than twice that of a deputy.

Nealy, 46, worked at the main jail in suburban West Palm Beach and earns an annual salary of more than $103,000. She also took in more than $56,000 in overtime during the 2006-07 fiscal year, the highest among those named in the alleged scheme.

Officials say Nealy, who has been with the sheriff's office since 1986, faces charges of organized scheme to defraud, fraudulent use of personal identification and official misconduct. The other six - Lt. George Behar, Lt. Darrin McCray, Sgt. Edy Velasquez, Sgt. Faulton Kemph, Sgt. John McCaffrey and Sgt. Kathy Dent - likely will face lesser charges next week, according to a source close to the investigation.

Each has worked for the sheriff's office for more than a decade and earns nearly $70,000 or more.

Sheriff's administrators placed all seven supervisors on administrative leave two weeks ago. But officials say the scheme could have gone on for years and that as many as 100 corrections deputies might have known about it.

Two other sheriff's supervisors in the permits division recently were reassigned under similar suspicions.

Reached by phone Thursday afternoon, Nealy said, "I have no comment."

Her attorney, Michael Salnick, did not return calls for comment.