Two former Columbus Police Department officers have been given suspended sentences by a special judge after pleading guilty to ghost employment.
Dan Meister, 47, 952 Jackson St., Hope and Ron May, 59, 8015 S. County Road 875W, Columbus were originally charged with official misconduct, ghost employment and theft — all Level 6 felonies.
Both worked a second job providing security at Columbus Regional Hospital while clocked in as city officers. Meister is accused of overlapped hours worked on 52 separate occasions, while May is accused of overlapped hours on 62 separate occasions between Jan. 1, 2013 and Aug. 31, 2018, according to a State Board of Accounts audit.
In Bartholomew Circuit Court Wednesday, special judge Richard W. Poynter of Brownstown allowed both May and Meister to plead guilty to only one charge: ghost employment. In exchange, the two other felony charges were dropped by special prosecutor Jeff Chalfant of Jackson County.
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Poynter then agreed to convert the ghost employment felony charge to a Class A misdemeanor for both defendants before he ordered that they serve suspended one-year sentences.
If convicted of all three original felony charges, both May and Meister could have been sentenced to each serve a maximum of 7.5 years behind bars, as well as face fines of up to $30,000.
Instead, both men were ordered to be placed under supervised probation until it can be verified that they have paid all restitution, court costs and fines, Poynter said.
As it appears now, those conditions may have already been met. The Indiana Attorney General’s office has verified that May has paid $4,903 in restitution, while Meister paid $4,110.
Court costs and other expenses will be taken from the $7,500 bond that both men posted last February to get out of jail, Poynter said.
Besides the fact that both defendants were both law enforcement officers, this case has stood out in regard to how many judges have walked away from it.
Circuit Court Judge Kelly Benjamin worked with both of the former officers while she was a deputy prosecutor in Bartholomew County, as well as Columbus city attorney, so it was anticipated she would recuse herself.
But then, Brown Circuit Court Judge Mary Wertz was taken out of consideration because, like Benjamin, Wertz had also served as a local deputy prosecutor until 2018.
On July 16, Decatur Superior Court Judge Matthew Bailey asked to be taken off the case a month after receiving the assignment. That was followed by Jennings Circuit Court Judge Jonathan Webster, who immediately turned down the assignment.
Finally, Poynter agreed to serve as special judge in late July. He has been Jackson Circuit Court judge since 2012.
Court officials say most out-of-county judges have been too busy trying to catch up with their own caseloads after lengthy COVID-19 related shutdowns this year.
Most courts in Indiana postponed all but essential hearings after the COVID-19 virus forced many courthouses to close. On Dec. 14, the Indiana Supreme Court ordered that there will be no jury trials throughout the state’s 92 counties from now through March 1. In addition, state officials are asking judicial leaders in each county to expedite their proceedings as quickly as possible to reduce backed-up court dockets.
