Crime & Safety

2 Nassau Sheriffs Charged with Perjury

Rice: Pair face up to 7 years; accused of lying about fight with an inmate.

Two members of the Nassau County Sheriff's Department stand accused of providing false testimony before a grand jury and making false statements on sworn documents in a case stemming from a 2011 jail fight with an inmate.

John Andujar and Joseph Donlon were arrested Monday D.A. investigators and charged in a felony indictment that could land them behind bars for up to seven years, said Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice. 

The pair are charged with felony counts of perjury and making an apparently sworn false statement, and misdemeanor counts of official misconduct, making a punishable false written statement and conspiracy. 

The case was referred to Rice’s office by the Sheriff’s Department.

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Andujar, 55, is retired from the Nassau County Sheriff’s Department and lives in Florida. Donlon, 48, of Ronkonkoma, is still employed as a Nassau correction officer. Both defendants were arraigned Monday before Judge Alan Honorof. They are due back in court on Jan. 13. 

“We expect to hold law enforcement officers to the highest standards of honesty and discipline,” Rice said. “When that trust is broken, it unfairly taints the vast majority of law enforcement who serve honorably and we must act to correct it.”

The case dates to Oct. 21, 2011 and a fight betwe Officer Andujar and inmate David Page. The fight escalated and led to the involvement of Officer Donlon and other members of the Sheriff’s Department, Rice said.

Then, on Nov. 26, 2011, both Andujar and Donlon provided statements on sworn documents alleging the fight began when inmate Page spontaneously, without any warning or verbal communication, attacked Andujar in the jail’s transportation unit. 

On Dec. 5, 2011, Page was arrested and charged with three counts of felony assault. Eight days later, both Andujar and Donlon testified before a grand jury that the physical altercation was the result of the inmate spontaneously striking Andujar.

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The grand jury indicted Page on felony assault charges and he was subsequently arraigned on that indictment on Jan. 10, 2012.

The case against Page was later dismissed by the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office after the Internal Affairs division of the Nassau County Sheriff’s Department conducted an investigation that revealed several witnesses observed Officer Andujar and the prisoner were involved in a verbal dispute that escalated, Rice said.

Andujar then removed Page’s handcuffs and shackles and the two engaged in a mutual fight, Rice said.

Assistant District Attorney Kimberly Stevenson of the Public Corruption Bureau is prosecuting the case under the supervision of the Public Corruption Bureau Chief Bernadette Ford.

Andujar was represented by Michael Annibale at arraignment; Donlon was represented by Marc Gann.

Rice thanked Nassau County Sherriff Michael Sposato for his cooperation in this case.



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