Acting Sheriff Fires Senior Staffers, Hires Former City Controller To Review Contracts
3:45 PM: This post has been updated.
Acting Sheriff Fires Senior Staffers, Hires Former City Controller To Review Contracts
Catherine Lucey
3:45 PM: This post has been updated.
Acting Sheriff Barbara Deeley today announced a major reorganization of the embattled sheriff’s office, moving to dismiss several top staffers and bringing in a former City Controller to serve as her number two.
Deeley also said that sheriff’s sales would be suspended for fifty days due to the changes. Her new chief deputy Joe Vignola said Mayor Nutter and Common Pleas Court President Judge Pam Dembe had been notified of the changes.
Vignola, who also served as a City Councilman, said he would focus on helping the office comply with a pending forensic audit ordered by City Controller Alan Butkovitz.
“I’ve been brought on board to ensure complete compliance with the forensic audit and coordinate all the agencies that are necessary to accomplish that.,” said Vignola, whose salary will be about $94,000.
Deeley became acting sheriff when longtime Sheriff John Green offered his resignation last Friday. Green had said he was going to leave before his term ended in January 2012, but those plans were postponed in late October when a dispute between his office and the City Controller’s Office broke into the public.
City Controller Alan Butkovitz complained that the Sheriff’s Office had stymied his efforts at a routine audit of three bank accounts. Butkovitz then ordered a complete forensic audit of 11 bank accounts held by the Sheriff’s Office. Butkovitz, in preparing the request for proposals, made clear that he questions whether hundreds of millions of dollars have been mismanaged by the Sheriff’s Office.
Deeley will face a difficult time having her nomination confirmed by the Republican-controlled state Senate. Gov.-elect Tom Corbett, who takes office on Jan. 18, is expected to recall Deeley’s nomination and submit his own pick for the post.
Three staffers were suspended with pay today, pending termination in 30 days. They are: Tyrone Bynum, Director of Finance and Compliance, Crystal Stewart, Real Estate Supervisor and Edward Chew, a solicitor. Daryl Stewart, Director of Real Estate, was assigned to a different office.
In 2005, Daryl Stewart was suspended pending an investigation into Stewart's private deals involving sheriff's-sale properties. That investigation was prompted by Daily News reporting on deals done by Stewart and his wife Crystal Smith Stewart.
Deeley today also severed ties with Reach Communications and RCS Searchers and all title companies currently doing business with the Sheriff’s Office. RCS Searchers and Reach are owned by Crystal Stewart’s brother James Davis.
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2:40 p.m. Changes are underway from acting Sheriff Barbara Deeley, whose appointment remains in question. Here's the release from her office:
SHERIFF DEELEY SEPERATES SENIOR STAFF FROM FINANCE AND REAL ESTATE DIVISIONS
TERMINATES ALL BUSINESS RELATIONSHIPS WITH REACH COMMUNICATIONS; HIRES FORMER CITY CONTROLLER JOE VIGNOLA TO REVIEW ALL EXISTING CONTRACTS OF REAL ESTATE DIVISION
ISSUES 50-DAY MORATORIUM ON ALL SHERIFF SALES
For Immediate Release
Philadelphia Sheriff, Barbara Deeley, today placed the following senior staff members on immediate leave with pay pending their separation on February 7, 2011.
Tyrone Bynum, Director of Finance and Compliance
Edward Chew, Solicitor
Crystal Stewart, Real Estate Supervisor
Sheriff Deeley has re-assigned Daryl Stewart, Director of Real Estate, outside of the Real Estate Division effective immediately.
In addition, Sheriff Deeley has terminated all agreements and business relationships with Reach Communications and RCS Searchers and all title companies currently doing business with the Sheriff’s Office.
The Sheriff has appointed former City Controller, Joe Vignola, to the newly-created position of Chief Deputy for Finance and Accountability. Mr. Vignola’s first task will be to review all agreements and contracts signed by the Real Estate Division of the Sheriff’s Office and spearhead an internal accounting of all Real Estate Division transactions.
In light of the impact that these moves will have on the ability of the Sheriff’s Office to conduct real estate sales, Sheriff Deeley has issued a 50-day moratorium on all sheriff sales effective immediately.
Sheriff Deeley said, “My actions today have been taken in full consultation with President Judge Pamela Dembe. I intend to work closely with Judge Dembe in the coming weeks to restructure the Real Estate Division of the Sheriff’s Office.”
Deeley continued: “These steps have been taken in full cognizance of the important work done by City Controller Alan Butkovitz in auditing the Sheriff’s Office. The findings in his report are, in large part, the impetus for the actions I have taken today.”
Deeley concluded: “My actions are in no way a reflection on the integrity and work ethic of the men and women who continue to work in the Sheriff’s Office. These men and women, some of whom risk their lives every day, continue to have my full confidence and respect.”
Looks like a good start to cleaning house over there. Gonna need a big broom though.- evidently she not only has a big broom,but even larger cojones than the former sherrif. out with the old.— Miss M.
- Please proceed Sheriff. Not sure what the report said but am happy that she read it and is taking action. Maybe others in City Hall will learn a lesson.— Pundit
- She should run for Mayor. That office needs a real house cleaning.— equalityman
Me thinks she might be trying to push along her actual appointment as Sheriff with a couple of aggressive moves. However, wasn't she a member of the senior staff that screwed up the financial record keeping?— mccarte1- bynum huh? didn't the bynums gets loads of tax money up in ogontz?— dreinterests
- Deeley and Green go back many years in a very close relationship in the office and at home! Even her daughter has been taken care of! All b s , democratic politics as usual.— phillygrlinfl
- Cleaning house, maybe! But hiring Vignola? A political drone if there was ever one. He screwed his constitutents when he was councilperson of the 1st; in fact, they were getting ready to recall him with bumper stickers all over the place. The guy is a political hack.— Centrist
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- Vignola is another hack, fuggetaboudit!— jasper729
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- It looks like the Stewart's history of greed has finally caught up to them. This investigation would woefully miss the mark if it did not focus on the relationships between Darrel and Crystal Stewart, and that of RCS. Similar to an "insider trading" story, the potentially illegal insider connections on real estate deals, where the Stewarts may potentially have provided business advantages to RCS, a firm where the CEO, James R. Davis is the brother of Crystal Stewart, has to warrant significant suspicion by the auditors. Credible information has revealed that Crystal Stewart has a track record of greed that should be investigated by the family court system in the State of Delaware as well. Mrs. Stewart has a history of falsifying her income for over 10 years in the State of Delaware in false child support claims against her ex-husband, essentially "extorting" thousands of dollars in undeserved moneies to feed her greedy habits, knowing the State of Delaware does not do anything to substantiate false income claims in family court cases. The full extent of her income in real estate dealings with Darrel Stewart, as well as possible "kick-backs" from RCS in sherrif sales deals were never reported as income to the State of Delaware.— justice_seekers
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David Gambacorta spent a small eternity writing about cops, drug dealers and serial killers. Now he’s writing about power and politics – which sometimes reminds him of the old crime beat. He joined the Daily News in 2005. And yes, he knows you’re not quite sure how to pronounce his last name. E-mail tips to gambacd@phillynews.com
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Jan Ransom, a native New Yorker, joined the Daily News in 2010 after graduating from Howard University. She has since written about the difficulty of filing police complaints, tax deadbeats and life after violent home invasions. She joined the Daily News City Hall Bureau in 2011 and has plunged headfirst into reporting on administration budget battles and City Council shenanigans. E-mail tips to ransomj@phillynews.com
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Sean Collins Walsh is from Bucks County and went to Northwestern University. He joined the Daily News copy desk in 2012 and now covers the Nutter administration. Before that, he interned at papers including The New York Times, The Dallas Morning News and The Seattle Times. E-mail tips to walshSE@phillynews.com
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