U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced that Joseph Geer, 40, of Caledonia, NY, has been sentenced to two years' probation for theft of funds related to a federal program. The sentence was handed down by Chief U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas M. Testani, who managed the case, explained that in 2022, the Avon Central School District and the Village of Avon agreed on a School Resource Officer Contract. Under this agreement, an off-duty member of the Avon Police Department would provide services to the district in exchange for an hourly wage paid by the district.
Between September 2023 and January 2024, Geer served as both the Avon Police Chief and a School Resource Officer (SRO) under this contract. During this period, he billed the district for hours when he did not fulfill his duties under the contract. Instead, Geer assigned an on-duty subordinate officer to cover his obligations, which deprived the Village of Avon of a patrolling on-duty police officer. He was aware that assigning an on-duty officer meant that wages were being charged for duties not performed.
The loss incurred by the Village of Avon due to officers covering Geer's SRO duties amounted to approximately $6,866.84.
The investigation leading to Geer's sentencing was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation under Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Mark Grimm and the New York State Comptroller’s Office led by Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
