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Posted: Friday, 03 July 2009 1:44PM
Fire official gets probation for scamming $193,000
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CHICAGO (STNG) -- A former Orland Park fire lieutenant was sentenced to three years of probation Thursday for bilking the Orland Fire Protection District out of nearly $200,000 by falsely claiming he was on active duty in the military while he was actually overseas working for a private contractor.
"I'd like to apologize to my family, this court and the state," Lawrence Masa, 44, said in pleading guilty to felony theft and official misconduct charges. "I am truly sorry that this happened."
Cook County Judge Thomas Hennelly also ordered Masa to perform 120 hours of community service for the scam.
Between March 2003 and December 2006, Masa applied for military leave from the fire department, submitting bogus documents to show he would be deployed, Assistant State's Attorney Diane Ghaster said. He applied for and was granted military leave a total of five times -- drawing $193,000 in salary and benefits from the department.
Masa, a veteran, is not on active duty with the armed forces and has not been since 1988, when he was in the Army Reserves.
While on leave from the fire department, Masa worked abroad as an independent contractor for crisis response training for such countries as South Africa, Pakistan, Nepal, Kenya, Bangladesh and Indonesia, Ghaster said.
Masa currently works as a truck driver, his attorney Michael Krejci said.
When the allegations against Masa first surfaced, he told the SouthtownStar he forged the deployment records only because his work as a private contractor was really part of a super-secret covert military operation similar to the dangerous missions carried out by the fictional movie character Jason Bourne.
Orland Park Fire Protection District officials, who were able to recover the lost funds through insurance claims, have a pending civil case against Masa,.
"This matter scarred the district's image as well as the image of firefighters across the country as well as all military veterans," they said in a written statement. "However, the respect of firefighters and our service men and women can never be smudged by one man who brought dishonor to himself through his actions, dishonesty and misjudgment."
A friend of Masa, Lemont firefighter Steve Slawinski, has been accused of similar crimes. His case is pending.
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Copyright 2009 STNG Wire, The Chicago Sun-Times. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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