Crime Scene

Rockland sheriff’s candidate Tim O’Neill today called for Gov. Eliot Spitzer to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate how a Monsey man convicted in Pennsylvania of a vehicular homicide charge ended up being incarcerated in the county jail.

O’Neill’s call came a day after he called for a federal investigation into the case of Ben Klein, who spent nine months in the jail in 2005.

O’Neill claims Republican Sheriff James Kralik lobbied for Klein’s transfer to Rockland in an effort to score political points with the Ramapo Hasidic Jewish community. O’Neill, a Democrat Stony Point councilman and Clarkstown police detective sergeant, is looking to oust Kralik as sheriff in the Nov. 6 election.

Kralik, who is seeking his fifth, four-year term, has denied O’Neill’s accusations. He said he didn’t even know about Klein or his case until O’Neill raised the issue on Tuesday.

“If this is not a made up story by him, let him produce one person, just one person, that would give any validity to his ridiculous statements,â€? Kralik said today. “He can’t. By innuendo, he’s raising the issue of the Hasidic community in order to get votes. I never lobbyed anyone or spoke to anyone in the Jewish community.â€?

O’Neill responded today by telephone that Kralik was responsible as sheriff of the jail. And O’Neill said if Kralik didn’t know about Pennsylvania inmate being housed in the jail, he should have.

In his press release issued today, O’Neill described what he believed Kralik’s role was more directly.

“Today I urge Governor Eliot Spitzer to appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Jim Kralik’s outrageous behavior,â€? O’Neill said in a news release.

O’Neill also said in the news release that District Attorney Michael Bongiorno cannot investigate the Klein case because he has been “colluding with the sheriff as they run for re-election .. “ Bongiorno and Kralik are running as the “law and order team.”

“Rockland residents must look to an outside special prosecutor for justice,â€? O’Neill said. “The County Jail cannot be turned into Kralik’s personal hotel.â€?

A Pennsylvania judge signed an order in 2005 transferring Klein to the Rockland county jail to serve out a one to two sentence. Klein pleaded guilty to homicide by vehicle for reckless driving that caused the death of his passenger, Jacob Weisz, 48, of Monsey.

According letters provided by O’Neill, Jail Chief William Clark wrote a letter extolling Klein to the judge and discussed a possible transfer to the Rockland jail at no cost to Lancaster County. Clark said he got involved at the request of the jail’s Jewish chaplin, Rabbi Abraham Horowitz, and Klein’s rabbi.

Clark said the transfer was about making money for the jail since Klein’s synagogue paid the county $26,000 for his nine-month incarceration. O’Neill originally stated on Tuesday that Rockland taxpayers paid for Klein’s incarceration in the jail. He said today that didn’t know the synagogue paid the bill, though he found it strange that such arrangements were allowed.

The housing of prisoners has made $500,000 for the jail since 2001. Clark said the jail made about $35,000 on Klein and two inmates from Arizona. He said the rest of the money was for inmates from New York City, the federal government and from other counties in New York.

The New York State Corrections Commission told Clark on Tuesday that housing out-of-state prisoners like Klein was against state regulations and must stop. Clark said he had been told several years ago that it was legal.

Undersheriff Thomas Guthrie met today with State Corrections Commissioner Dan Stewart. Guthrie said he want to know if there was any way the county could legally take out-of-state prisoners.

“We like the income,� Guthrie said, adding the money offsets other costs.

Guthrie said he called Stewart in Albany but the commissioner came to the sheriff-jail facility. Stewart, unbeknownst to Guthrie, recently moved to Rockland.

“He told me there was no way it can be done,â€? Guthrie said. “We were under the impression for years we could do it if a judge signed an order. It’s a mistake. We will not do it again.â€?

See “O’Neill campaign”:http://www.oneilforsheriff.com/

See “Kralik campaign”:http://www.sheriffkralik.com/