Rockland Corrections Union Head Accused of Records Tampering

John Cocuzza, president of the Rockland Corrections Officers Benevolent Association, has been charged with 68 counts of not performing duties and tampering with jail records to cover it up, according to The Journal News.

He was arraigned Wednesday. Many of the charges are felonies: there are 17 felony counts of first-degree tampering with public records, and another 51 misdemeanor counts — 17 each of second-degree falsifying business records, second-degree tampering with public records and official misconduct, according to lohud.com.

He has been suspended pending the outcome.

A union vice president, Officer Richard McNichol, resigned rather than face similar charges.

Richard Vasquez, the unsuccessful candidate for Rockland County Sheriff in November’s election cried foul on Facebook.

Rockland County Sheriff Louis Falco has stooped to an all time low! This retaliatory act will cost Rockland County tax payers millions of dollars in lawsuits. It is not a coincidence that all the corrections officers that supported me are being forced to retire or face frivolous charges. The question everyone should ask is simple; if these acts are true, why were they not investigated previously? Also, why are the supervisors who are supposed to be supervising the officers, not being held accountable, and charged with failure to supervise? Falco complains about all the overtime these officers received, but he did not do anything about it until after they endorsed me.

And Clarkstown - What They Don’t Want You to Know had some questions about overtime, patronage, zero tolerance and what’s going on in the Sheriff’s Department, among them: “How does one allow an officer to “resign” if he is alleged to have committed numerous felonies against the taxpayers of Rockland County?... What role did Sheriff Falco’s son, Louis Falco IV, [a sergeant in the department] play in this evolving narrative?”