Corrections Chief Fined For Taking Personal Trips In City Car

NEW YORK, NY — The city Conflicts of Interest Board on Tuesday fined nine top Department of Corrections officials — including the current acting commissioner — for taking their city-owned cars on personal trips.

Acting Commissioner Cynthia Brann, Chief of Staff Jeff Thamkittikasem, Acting Chief of Department Hazel Jennings, five jail wardens and a deputy warden were slapped with thousands of dollars in penalties for violating the city's conflict of interest laws.

All nine have already reimbursed the Department of Corrections for the improper travel and forfeited time off valued at thousands of dollars, the COIB said.

"The Department is committed to complying with all recommendations on how to improve its compliance with City rules and regulations governing vehicle use and we consider this matter closed," Peter Thorne, a spokesman for the corrections department, told Patch in a statement.

The fines stem from this year's scandal involving the officials' use of taxpayer-funded "take-home" vehicles for personal trips to destinations as far afield as Maine. City workers can only use the cars for commuting and official business.

The imbroglio, ignited by an April 28 Department of Investigation report, preceded then-Commissioner Joseph Ponte's resignation amid heated debate over the future of the Rikers Island jail complex. Mayor Bill de Blasio named Brann as his replacement in October.

The COIB fined Brann $6,000 for taking her city car on 16 personal trips in 2016, including 14 trips to shopping malls and a supermarket and two runs to John F. Kennedy Airport. She was the department's deputy commissioner for quality assurance at the time.

Brann also tried to have an aide pay her fine with a cashier's check last month while reimbursing him with a personal check, according to the COIB's decision in her case.

Thamkittikasem paid a $4,000 fine for taking his car on 14 trips last year, including one to Washington, D.C. and another to Virginia. Jennings paid a $600 fine for taking six trips for personal errands and to take family members to appointments.

One warden, Raleem Moses, took her city car on 38 trips last year — the most out of the nine officials. Most of her trips were near her Westchester County home, but she also made excursions to Pennsylvania, Connecticut, New Jersey and Long Island. The COIB fined Moses $1,500.

The Department of Corrections maintains that the violations were unintentional.

"Any disregard of City rules and regulations was an inadvertent misunderstanding and will not recur," Thorne told Patch in the statement.

(Lead image: The entrance to the Rikers Island prison complex is pictured in March. Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)