Like TURF
Follow TURFToll authority head guilty of thievery at Maine turnpike
Posted on Fri, 2012-01-20 10:17
Toll Road News
Paul Violette's lawyer says the longtime head of the Maine Turnpike is prepared to plead guilty to charges by the state attorney-general of thievery amounting to some $10,000 so long as the state doesn't ask for more than five years in jail - an eight year sentence with five years to be served. The charges carry a maximum of ten years served in jail.
His lawyer says he wants to "get this behind him."
From the time the scandal broke Violette never denied the wrongdoing, saying simply he didn't know. That may be accurate because misusing Turnpike money had become so habitual he never thought about it, and genuinely didn't remember much of it.
Investigators only went back through about a third of his term as executive director - back to 2003 - and say they probably missed stuff, so the total he took was probably much larger than their $500,000 estimate.
Late last year Violette agreed to a settlement of a civil suit by the Turnpike alleging he had misappropriated about half a million dollars in various kinds of living off the Turnpike with charges for non-business related travel, entertainment, hotels, meals and unaccounted for gift cards. He was also accused of making false claims for unused sick and holiday pay.
The thievery was mostly small amounts, but occasionally large. On days close to one another he bought $35k and $10k of gift cards of Hyatt Hotels, then a few days later $15k of gift cards of Fairmont Hotels.
In settlement of the civil suit he agreed to personally repay the Turnpike $155,000.
He said that was about his total current net worth.
Two Turnpike bonding companies will pay the Turnpike $275,000 in the agreed settlement of $430k.
Violette was executive director of the Turnpike from 1988 to March 7, 2011 when he resigned after the scandal had been broken by the state Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability.
Background
He was a prominent personality in the toll industry having a one year term as president of IBTTA in 2001.
56 years old Violette is a graduate of Maine University law school and has been in politics or lobbying most of his adult life. A Democrat he served two terms in the Maine House of Representatives and three terms in the Maine senate, the final term being Senate Majority leader.
He was chief lobbyist for the St Paul Insurance company, then for Sprint, the telephone company.
No accountants charged
The Maine Turnpike Authority has never explained how its accounts and auditing so totally failed to pick up any of Violette's many years of thievery. Some accountants and auditors would have to have turned a blind eye for it to go on so long - perhaps because he was regarded internally as untouchable.
In addition some of his associates on the Turnpike board of directors must have picked up indications of his larcenous ways with Turnpike money.
It took an outside state investigatory office to out the abuses.
http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/5186