Posted at: 10/07/2009 5:12 PM | WHEC.com
Updated at: 10/07/2009 8:16 PM
By: Brett Davidsen

I-Team 10 investigation: What the deputy county executive told investigators

The document attached to James Smith's indictment provides a lot of detail about the behind the scenes strategy of the Brooks administration after they learned about Robutrad workers bilking taxpayers. Smith appearing worried that a criminal investigation would lead to the downfall of the Republican Party.

It was at the county office building three months after the initial arrests in the Robutrad scandal when then-deputy county executive James Smith met with sheriff's investigator Patrick Crough.

That interview is outlined in a FBI written report. It says Smith first learned about wrongdoing when he was tipped off that Robutrad workers were spending their days at the Klassy Kat strip club in Henrietta.

Smith went to the club and then reprimanded their supervisor, county employee Bob Morone. He says he gave them a verbal reprimand telling them the behavior would not be tolerated.

When questioned about why he didn't fire the Robutrad workers after catching them here at this strip club, Smith told the investigator he was told to "hold off" by the sheriff's department. But Smith was then reminded that the incident happened weeks before the sheriff's department was even brought into the investigation."

It was shortly after the Klassy Kat incident that a whistleblower came forward and told county officials that an unnamed Robutrad worker was having sex with a mentally disabled county employee in a county facility.

Smith says the allegations did not turn out to be very significant but the same informant then revealed the Robutrad workers were being paid to do non-county work, or no work at all.

County leaders, including County Executive Maggie Brooks, huddled to decide what to do. According to the report, "Smith advised that in the end, he advised Brooks to handle it internally" but, "ultimately Brooks decided to take it to law enforcement."

When asked, "Smith denied ever saying it would be the downfall of the Republican Party."

�It doesn't really come across to me as if he really wanted to get to the bottom of what the wrongdoing was." County Legislature Minority Leader Harry Bronson today called it further proof of a culture of corruption within the administration and pressed again for a full review to restore the public's trust. �We can look at where has there been mismanagement, where has there been a lack of management, where has there been a lack of oversight, and who's responsible for that."

But despite being pressed by sheriff investigators, smith claims he never protected Morone or the Robutrad crew due to their political involvement with the county Republican Party.

Read indictment
Read Smith's interview

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