{"id":206025,"date":"2026-04-22T14:21:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T14:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/206025\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T14:21:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T14:21:12","slug":"nyc-sheriffs-deputies-involved-in-alleged-evidence-scandal-during-covid-still-employed-on-track-for-promotions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/206025\/","title":{"rendered":"NYC sheriff\u2019s deputies involved in alleged evidence scandal during COVID still employed, on track for promotions"},"content":{"rendered":"

An internal investigation into allegations that several NYC Sheriff\u2019s Office<\/a> employees stole liquor and tobacco confiscated as evidence during the COVID-19 pandemic years has resurfaced, with an anonymous source telling amNewYork that some of the workers are still employed with the agency \u2014 and a few are on track for promotions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The evidence at the center of the controversy includes liquor and tobacco that was stored in a Long Island City warehouse by the Sheriff\u2019s Office under former Mayor Bill de Blasio\u2019s administration, led by then-Sheriff Joseph Fucito, during the enforcement of emergency public health orders. The seizures often netted large quantities of alcohol, which was supposed to be inventoried and stored as evidence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Workers in the Sheriff\u2019s Office, including 12 deputies, sergeants and an investigator, had different plans for the liquor, as they were seen on video taking the bottles out of evidence storage from 2020 to 2021. Several workers were observed stashing bottles of booze in their private cars.\u00a0<\/p>\n

An investigation was triggered when fellow employees observed a so-called \u201cman cave\u201d where employees were allegedly involved in frat boy-like behavior, including consuming confiscated alcohol, cigars, and cigarettes.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"TheThe NYC Sheriff\u2019s office raided a Feb. 7, 2021 party in Brooklyn where more than 200 patrons, many of whom weren\u2019t wearing masks, partied in violation of COVID-19 regulations.Photo courtesy of NYC Sheriff\u2019s Office<\/p>\n

The tipsters brought the alleged misconduct to the attention of the city\u2019s Department of Investigation (DOI) through three anonymous complaints between January and December 2021. The watchdog agency\u2019s investigation found that, at the time of the misconduct, the sheriff\u2019s office did not properly inventory the evidence in accordance with its own guidelines.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cDOI observed that the seized evidence and property was stored in a disorganized manner and generally lacked proper labeling and tracking documentation,\u201d the agency\u2019s report read.\u00a0<\/p>\n

DOI then brought the results of its investigation to the Queens District Attorney\u2019s Office, who had jurisdiction over the matter. However, according to an article in The City<\/a>, the office declined to prosecute, citing a lack of evidence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Adding a layer to the controversy, a source close to the situation confirmed that some of the accused \u2014 but not criminally convicted \u2014 workers connected to the case remain employed by the city and outside agencies in the area, though seven resigned before the case went to administrative trial.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey got away with it because [the contraband] was never inventoried properly,\u201d the source said. \u201cThey never documented what was taken in although you see them taking stuff out, you can not say exactly what they took.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Sheriff\u2019s office raided an illegal rave on March 6, 2021 inside a warehouse located within a Superfund site in Ridgewood, Queens.Photo courtesy of NYC Sheriff\u2019s Office<\/p>\n

Despite the DOI\u2019s investigation, which found violations that led to administrative trials and referral to the DA\u2019s office, some employees are reportedly still working and on track for promotions at the sheriff\u2019s office.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people in the new administration, they don\u2019t know the history of what went on here, so they\u2019re trying to promote some of these same people,\u201d the source said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Fucito, while no longer at the head of the sheriff\u2019s office, is still employed as an undersheriff. Despite overseeing the department at the time, he was not named in the investigation.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThey never held him accountable for anything,\u201d the source said.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

According to the DOI\u2019s interview with Fucito, the former sheriff said a tool room in the evidence storage area was converted into a break room, known on site as the \u201cman cave.\u201d He further stated that he would often pass by or visit the break area but \u201cnothing appeared to be out of order\u201d when he was there, the investigation read.<\/p>\n

amNewYork contacted Fucito for comment on the case, and is awaiting a response.\n<\/p>\n

Following the investigation, DOI issued recommendations to improve evidence tracking at the sheriff\u2019s office. Among those are implementing an automated property management system to track evidence, conducting regular internal inventory checks, and improving records of disposal of evidence and property.\u00a0<\/p>\n

According to DOI, the sheriff\u2019s office has, to date, implemented most of the agency\u2019s recommendations.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

amNewYork contacted the sheriff\u2019s office to ask about the current process for vouchering property and evidence; amNewYork was told since\u00a02022, the system for tracking evidence collection has significantly improved.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The anonymous source said that since 2022, the department has conducted itself in a more professional manner.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have safeguards in place. If they find money, there are two people counting it in the presence of a supervisor, there are body-worn cameras. It\u2019s all documented,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n

amNewYork also contacted the Department of Finance (DOF), of which the sheriff\u2019s office is a part, for comment.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cWe take all allegations of employee misconduct seriously,\u201d a DOF spokesperson said. \u201cIn this instance, appropriate disciplinary action was taken at the time to address the matter.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An internal investigation into allegations that several NYC Sheriff\u2019s Office employees stole liquor and tobacco confiscated as evidence…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":206026,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[81693,81694,81695,44349,81696,81697,81698,77325,81699,81700,81701,9,56,63,65,64,81702,13287,646,81703,26392,81704],"class_list":{"0":"post-206025","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-administrative-trials","9":"tag-bill-de-blasio-administration","10":"tag-covid-19-enforcement","11":"tag-department-of-investigation","12":"tag-employee-misconduct","13":"tag-evidence-handling","14":"tag-evidence-theft","15":"tag-internal-investigation","16":"tag-law-enforcement-oversight","17":"tag-liquor-confiscation","18":"tag-long-island-city-warehouse","19":"tag-new-york","20":"tag-ny","21":"tag-nyc","22":"tag-nyc-headlines","23":"tag-nyc-news","24":"tag-nyc-sheriff","25":"tag-nyc-sheriffs-office","26":"tag-police-and-fire","27":"tag-public-corruption","28":"tag-queens-district-attorney","29":"tag-tobacco-seizures"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=206025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/206025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/206026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=206025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=206025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=206025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}