Mugshot of deputy William S. Marciante Jr
St. Charles Sheriff's deputy arrested for issuing bogus traffic tickets
A St. Charles Parish Sheriff's deputy was arrested Wednesday after an investigation revealed that he had been issuing false seat belt citations to motorists he never stopped over a period of several months and claimed overtime pay for doing it.
William S. Marciante Jr., of Luling, a five-year veteran of the department, was booked with 27 counts of malfeasance in office, 21 counts of injuring public records, 21 counts of forgery and six counts of payroll fraud. He remained in the St. Charles Parish jail with bond set at $50,000 by Judge Emile St. Pierre.
Marciante has been fired.
Authorities say that between February and May, Marciante wrote a total of 21 citations for seatbelt violations to unsuspecting motorists who were never stopped. Evidence from Marciante's patrol vehicle and his dashboard camera shows that none of the traffic stops took place. Furthermore, Capt. Pat Yoes said, Marciante did not work during the times he issued the citations and submitted for overtime pay. More than 12 cases have been confirmed through handwriting analysis that Marciante forged signatures on the citations.
Yoes, the Sheriff's Office spokesman, said investigators believe that Marciante randomly chose some of his victims as they drove past him.
"We don't really know how he did it," Yoes said. "But it was random. It was evenly distributed among men and women, black and white."
The St. Charles Sheriff's Office received a grant from the Louisiana Highway Safety Administration last summer to promote seatbelt safety and enforcement. That grant pays deputies overtime for writing seatbelt citations.
Yoes said Marciante's actions were discovered when a motorist received a routine letter from the Sheriff's Office in August, notifying her of a bench warrant for failure to appear in traffic court for a seat belt violation. The motorist responded saying she had never been stopped for the violation nor received a citation, Yoes said. That sparked the investigation.
"To say I am disgusted is an understatement," St. Charles Sheriff Greg Champagne said in a written statement. "This job is difficult enough. Because of Marciante's actions, the job has gotten a little harder. It is mind-boggling to understand how someone would be so irresponsible and think it would not eventually be detected. We have checks and balances in place. Once we discovered discrepancies, we immediately investigated and took swift actions. Marciante's arrest should serve as an example to anyone who chooses to victimize the very people we take an oath to rob and protect."
Ex-officers seek to stop traffic grants
By Daniel Borunda
EL PASO TIMES
11/01/2011
Five former El Paso police officers have filed a request for an injunction against city officials, alleging police have an illegal quota system for traffic tickets.
The ex-officers claim they were forced to resign, but City Manager Joyce Wilson said the officers resigned when faced with termination linked to allegations of falsified time sheets.
The resignations come after an investigation began in late summer regarding the misappropriation of overtime linked to the Selective Traffic Enforcement Program, or STEP, grant. The investigation has since expanded beyond traffic grants.
A week ago, Lt. Alfred Lowe, head of the Crimes Against Persons Unit, was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation into overtime regarding a state grant paying for anti-gang operations.
The petition for an injunction was filed last week in the 34th District Court and seeks to stop the El Paso Police Department from using state traffic enforcement grants and alleges that a quota system is being used.
A hearing date is pending on the petition filed by ex-officers Luis Acosta, Ana Reza, Jorge Arellano, Michael Arzaga and Luis Alonzo Ortiz against Police Chief Greg Allen, Wilson and Mayor John Cook.
Each officer was with the department for more than 10 years until their resignations in late August and September. They are represented by lawyers Stuart Leeds and Theresa Caballero.
Leeds and Caballero provided the El Paso Times with a copy of an internal police email where a traffic sergeant complains to officers that not enough citations are being issued as part of a Click-It-or-Ticket seat-belt enforcement grant.
The May 26 email by Sgt. Jack Matthews of the Traffic Division stated "the performance standard set forth in the grant is a minimum of three seat-belt violations per hour of work per officer. If you think that you cannot meet this goal during your five-hour shift, then do not work the grant ... those that do not produce what is required will not be considered to work any traffic-related grants in the future."
Matthews was a past grant administrator, according to city documents, and retired Aug. 20, about the time the grants investigation was under way. Matthews has not been accused of wrongdoing.
Leeds said the email is proof that a quota system, though using a different name, is used by the Police Department in violation of state law.
"This proves this is all about money," Leeds said. "It is not about law enforcement and criminal justice. The people of El Paso are being hunted" for traffic citations.
Police and city officials denied the allegations. Police officials have said performance standards are not a quota system.
"These attorneys are representing their clients who resigned voluntarily in lieu of termination," Wilson said in a statement.
"The El Paso Police Department does not have a quota system and the issue at hand has nothing to do with quotas -- it has to do with falsifying time records. The lawsuit is without merit and our legal team is preparing a response."
Daniel Borunda may be reached at dborunda@elpasotimes.com; 546-6102.
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