An investigation of the Otsego County Sheriff’s Office sustained allegations of policy violations by First Sgt. Kristopher Solovitch, according to a report.
The outside investigation was conducted by the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office, at the request of Otsego County Sheriff Richard Devlin Jr.
The report reviewed allegations that Solovitch improperly filled out evidence submission forms regarding an internal investigation into former Lt. Thomas Fellrath.
Fellrath was the county jail administrator until Devlin fired him following an arrest by New York State Police for alleged cocaine possession while on duty in Herkimer County and driving a department vehicle in late May.
That arrest was part of a larger investigation into alleged overtime fraud following at least one request for as much, made by Otsego County Board of Representatives Chairperson Edwin Frazier Jr. to Acting District Attorney Christopher J. Di Donna.
According to the report, an internal investigation by Solovitch began in March following corrections officer Jason Kehoe’s identification of a rolled up $10 bill with white residue on it in the driver’s door of Fellrath’s department vehicle.
Solovitch filed reports with the state crime lab stating that the suspect in the case was “unknown” and that the bill was “inside the facility.” He labeled the offense as promoting prison contraband, which can be a felony charge if illegal drugs are involved.
DA’s Office Investigator Sean Ralph said he learned about the March incident while preparing Fellrath’s criminal case, and that he and Di Donna requested the bill and associated paperwork from the sheriff’s office, the report stated.
“Ralph advised that it was then that he learned that the bill had been sent to the (New York State Police) forensic labs and that the submission forms for the lab were found to have several discrepancies,” the report stated. The two then launched the investigation into the evidence forms, which resulted in Solovitch’s sealed indictment from a grand jury.
Sgt. Justin Copperwheat of the Oneida office’s professional standards unit stated in the investigative report dated July 17 that he found the internal complaint against Solovitch showed it was more likely than not that it actually happened and was in violation of a departmental requirement.
The report stated that although Solovitch’s intention didn’t appear to be to help Fellrath or make criminal prosecution more difficult, he still “knowingly omitted and or provided false information that was required for the form to be complete and submitted the same to the (New York State Police) Evidence Labs.”
The Daily Star obtained the report and some other documents pertaining to the investigation Friday, Aug. 21 through a Freedom of Information Law records request to Oneida County.
A call to the Utica-based law offices of David A. Longretta, Solovitch’s criminal defense attorney who the report stated was present when Copperwheat interviewed Solovitch, was not returned by press time Monday, Aug. 24. Solovitch pleaded not guilty to criminal charges related to the matter.
The report stated that Solovitch said “he believed there was a strong chance that the bill either belonged to Lt. Fellrath or another member of the Sheriff’s Office as it was found in the front of the vehicle.”
The report stated that Solovitch said “he completed the offense portion as prison contraband due to the bill being found in a jail vehicle that may have been used to conduct jail transports,” and that the sample size of the substance was too small to charge with criminal possession.
He “advised further that he also completed the forms in this manner due to their agency being small and not having a good way of keeping internal investigations from getting out to uninvolved members at the agency.”
Solovitch reportedly added that “he never intended to provide any assistance to Lt. Fellrath.”
At press time Monday, Solovitch remained listed on the sheriff’s office website as first sergeant, a high-ranking position. Copperwheat’s report stated that Devlin shared a document placing Solovitch on administrative leave; the date of when Solovitch was placed on leave was not included in the report.
Devlin declined to comment via email Monday, saying that since the investigation is “ongoing and involves pending personnel and criminal proceedings, we are unable to comment further at this time.”
In his announcement June 10 of what would be the Oneida County Sheriff’s Office’s review, Devlin stated that “maintaining public confidence is critical, so I will formally request an independent review to ensure complete transparency and accountability moving forward.”
The Daily Star’s FOIL request on July 15 to Oneida County sought “all documents pertaining to” its sheriff’s office’s “independent review” of the Otsego County Sheriff’s Office. Oneida County denied the request July 21 — several days after the report was dated — citing a state law that allows government agencies to withhold records that would interfere with an ongoing investigation or pending judicial proceeding.
The Daily Star appealed the denial Aug. 7, which Commissioner of Personnel and FOIL Appeals Officer Charles Klein granted Aug. 14. Oneida County made documents available Friday, Aug. 21.
The Daily Star filed a narrow FOIL request for the final report with Otsego County on Aug. 10. Records Access Officer Carol McGovern denied the request Monday, Aug. 24 citing the same state law as Oneida County’s denial.