Talk of a birthday, drug deals Investigators say recordings show troubling ties between Kaczmarek, wife and alleged drug kingpin
By BRENDAN J. LYONS, Senior writer . First published: Sunday, May 11, 2008
SCHENECTADY -- For the six tumultuous years that he was chief of the Schenectady police force, Gregory T. Kaczmarek stood watch over a city that was losing its grip on crime as big-time dealers came calling with their guns and violence, looking for a slice of the bustling drug trade.
The mid-sized department was overwhelmed at times, more than once calling for help from the State Police as the beleaguered force battled its own problems with rampant corruption and internal strife. In telephone conversations secretly recorded by a state attorney general's task force, Kaczmarek can be heard allegedly taking part in conversations between his wife, Lisa, and an accused violent drug kingpin who state authorities say represents the very problems that have driven Schenectady to the brink. Indeed, Kerry "Slim" Kirkem, 40, a downstate transplant who now calls Waterford and Schenectady his home, is allegedly heard in one of the wiretaps boasting that he would take control of the Electric City's drug trade and murder anyone who stands in the way, according to copies of the wiretaps obtained by the Times Union. "I'm a start coming over there. I'm a start coming over there showing my face," Kirkem, whom Gregory Kaczmarek has described as a friend, can be heard telling an accused accomplice in a Feb. 16 telephone conversation. "I don't give a (expletive) about nobody when it come to the business, I'll murder you. ... The team that's behind you is strong, we about to take over the entire Schenectady. We too strong. We too strong for anybody." Two days later, just after noon on a Monday afternoon, Lisa Kaczmarek used a cellphone registered to her husband to call Kirkem and urge him to drive to Long Island to bring back a shipment of cocaine, according to the wiretap transcripts. Gregory Kaczmarek is heard in the background joking and joining in the conversation as his wife, in apparent desperation, urges Kirkem to make the trip. At the time of the call, Lisa Kaczmarek was at a Guilderland pizza restaurant where she tends bar, according to a person with knowledge of the investigation. Her conversations with Kirkem are laced with obscenities, threats of violence and boasts of the deals they have made, according to the transcripts. "Why we got to wait so long?" Lisa Kaczmarek asked. "Greg's got a birthday Wednesday." At that point, according to state authorities, Gregory Kaczmarek can be heard in the background saying: "That's my birthday present." Four minutes later, at 12:53 p.m., Lisa Kaczmarek dials Kirkem's number again and State Police investigators, who were monitoring Kirkem's calls, listen in as she suggests her husband could make the drive. "Oh, no, he's not gonna see nobody else," Kirkem responds. "Yeah, well, you don't trust Greg?" she asks. "They definitely ain't gonna do that," Kirkem said, as the conversation continued. "This is Long Island we talkin' about, you talking about a white guy going into the black, you buggin'." In the background of the bar, according to the wiretap documents, Kaczmarek can be heard laughing and stating: "I'll show him the badge." Near the end of the conversation, after they make another comment about Gregory Kaczmarek riding along as a protector, Lisa Kaczmarek pleads with Kirkem to make the trip by that Wednesday, which was her husband's birthday. "You'll be fine with the next batch. You'll be fine," Kirkem said. "If that don't come through, see if you can find something else for Greg's birthday cause you're my only connect," she says. Kaczmarek turned 56 that Wednesday. The calls ends moments later. It's not clear how many other telephone calls involving Lisa Kaczmarek may have been recorded during the operation, dubbed "Operation Slim Chance" in an apparent knock on Kirkem's nickname. People with knowledge of the case said the two conversations involving Gregory Kaczmarek do not appear to contain any incriminating statements, although the investigation is continuing. But the secretly recorded tapes will certainly fuel the drug-abuse rumors that have plagued Kaczmarek from the day he became chief. Meanwhile, his 48-year-old wife and 22-year-old stepson, both of whom have posted bail on the indictment, are facing the prospect of state prison for their alleged involvement in the cocaine and heroin ring. In an interview last week with the Times Union, Kaczmarek said that once he learned Kirkem was implicated, "I knew we would be targets." The 13-month investigation was sparked by traffic stops in Saratoga and Greene counties that netted drugs. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has declined to characterize Gregory Kaczmarek's status, including whether he could face any charges. They have described Lisa Kaczmarek as a retail-level dealer, and she is facing 8 to 25 years in prison if convicted. Brendan J. Lyons can be reached at 454-5547 or by e-mail at blyons@timesunion.com.
I'm just wondering if he still has contacts within the PD, or if these are higher level contacts that may have leaked the information. Either way, someone should follow up on that.
SCHENECTADY Deal may let cop retire Detective out sick for over 2 years BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
A police officer who has been using his unlimited sick time nearly every day for more than two years may soon be offered a deal to leave the force. The Schenectady City Council agreed Monday to ask the state Legislature for a special deal to encourage Detective Michael Kelly to retire. The Legislature offered a deal several years ago for any officers in the state who had at least 20 years of experience, but at the time, Kelly was working full time and declined to take it. That deal had long expired when Kelly became ill in 2005. The details of his illness have not been made public, but sometime before October 2005, he started calling in sick every day, using his contractual benefit for unlimited sick time. He’s been out almost every day since. He wants to stick it out in the department until he is eligible for retirement. The council wants a detective who can work. Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett said a deal in which Kelly could retire early would satisfy both sides. “What we’re proposing here is a benefit to the city as well as Detective Kelly,” Bennett said. “There is no downside. The city has an opportunity to put an officer on who can work … and from Detective Kelly’s point of view, it’s a fairness issue. He’s done almost 27 years in the police department.” Kelly was hired in 1981. Council members seemed confident that the Legislature would reopen the 20-year retirement plan for Kelly. The city must have state permission to take that step. Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden said it’s the only way for Kelly to retire right away. “He’s got 27 years. Twenty-seven’s not enough,” Van Norden said, adding that the retirement would be in the city’s best interest. “We’ll have a spot opened up, another officer in the field,” he said. For now, Kelly remains on the books, earning full pay while staying home. Last year’s figures were not available, but he used 243 sick days in 2006. That amounted to more than 11 percent of the total sick days used by the department.
Perhaps I am missing something here but why hasn't Kaczmarek been arrested yet? Is this going to be yet another Schenectady cop who has been under suspicion of drug use for years to get a free ride?
And I would really like to know what disability Michael Kelly had for 2 YEARS. These police contracts have got to change. It's rediculous!!! Although I believe the SFD has the same policy!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
SCHENECTADY Wiretaps reveal alleged drug mule’s panic Cocaine, heroin apparently vanished during traffic stop BY STEVEN COOK Gazette Reporter
The drugs were gone and a sobbing Misty Gallo attempted to explain to her boss why. She had just been hauling $23,000 worth of cocaine and heroin from their Long Island supplier to Schenectady, according to authorities. There had been a traffic stop but the officer had let her go. Then she discovered the drugs were gone, according to state police wiretap transcripts. Gallo was crying so hard that Kerry Kirkem, charged with being her boss in the drug operation, couldn’t understand what she was saying. At one point, he asked if somebody had hit her car. He finally realized. “Ain’t nothin’ in your trunk no more?” Kirkem asked as she confirmed the situation, still crying. “Are you serious? Oh my God!” The conversation was captured as part of state police wiretaps, transcripts of which have been obtained by The Daily Gazette. The yearlong federal, state and local investigation culminated last week in the indictment of 24 people, including Kirkem and Gallo. They and two others were arrested in March, as part of an initial sweep. Among the others indicted and arrested last week was Lisa Kaczmarek, accused of being an independent dealer. She is the wife of former Schenectady police chief Greg Kaczmarek. Both are heard on other wiretaps discussing what authorities say was the drug operations, though Greg Kaczmarek has not been charged. Kirkem and Gallo go on for several calls on Feb. 20, discussing the shipment and the aftermath. Hours later, according to the indictment, Kirkem is meeting with the Kaczmareks to decide how to respond to the loss of drugs. That meeting, however, does not appear in wiretap transcripts. Two days earlier, on Feb. 18, the Kaczmareks are heard on the wiretaps asking about an upcoming shipment and even offering to go themselves to pick it up. Lisa Kaczmarek talked with Kirkem about noon that day, and Greg Kaczmarek can be heard in the background, according to the transcripts. These transcripts can be found at dailygazette.com. After Gallo’s return empty-handed, Kirkem’s response came within hours. He nervously ordered everyone to get new telephones, he also ordered several workers to move a safe from one of the stash houses to another location, according to an application for a search warrant that was executed later. According to the indictment, those workers were Gary Cherny and Miles Smith. Smith is Lisa Kaczmarek’s son. They moved the safe from an apartment on Union Street to one on Avenue A, according to authorities. Kirkem’s attorney, Michael Braccini, has said he expected to attack the legality of the wiretaps. Gallo’s attorney, Stephen Rockmacher, declined to comment. Gallo is to appear in court Wednesday. The trip to Long Island Feb. 20 had begun with hopes for cash returns. “Can you say rich?” Kirkem told Gallo Feb. 18. “Cause that’s what we’ll be after we finish that key.” Kirkem was referring to a kilogram of cocaine and 150 bundles of heroin he was sending Gallo to purchase, according to investigators. Gallo’s Long Island trip was set up minutes before, with a 9:33 call by Kirkem to his alleged supplier Maximo Doe in Suffolk County, also revealed in transcripts. Kirkem agreed to send $14,000 for a half kilogram of cocaine and another $9,000 for 150 bundles of heroin. A minute later, Kirkem is on the phone with Gallo. “Oh, damn!” she replies when told of the size of the shipment. The trip, however, apparently did not happen until Feb. 20. At 5:11 p.m. that day, Kirkem learns of the traffic stop. Everything, however, is fine, according to Gallo who had not yet checked her trunk. “They pulled me over for no [expletive] reason,” she told Kirkem. “Not one.” She explained the stop. The offi cer, she said, told her she had cut off a truck. “I was mad far ahead of the truck,” she said. The officer told her that her car smelled of marijuana. She replied she didn’t smoke; she was going to school. The officer then asked her to take some field sobriety tests. “He was trying to joke with me and everything and I wasn’t rude and he was impressed with me,” she told Kirkem, “and he just let me go.” She was six miles from Albany. Kirkem told her to call once the shipment was put away. Gallo would soon realize that while she was taking her sobriety test, the troopers were busy in her car, taking approximately 900 grams of powder and crack cocaine and 148 bundles — 1,480 bags — of heroin. The presence of these drugs was later cited in the search warrant used subsequently. They then let her continue on her way. It was unclear how the officers seized the drugs without Gallo knowing. She didn’t realize exactly what happened until 5:54 p.m., 43 minutes later. As she sobbed her way through the opening of the call, Kirkem screamed that he couldn’t hear her. “The stuff isn’t in my trunk no more,” Gallo cries. “The stuff isn’t in my trunk no more.”
By LAUREN STANFORTH, Staff writer Tuesday, May 13, 2008
SCHENECTADY -- The city wants state approval for legislation to clear the way for the retirement of a 27-year police investigator who has been out sick for the last two years.
No one disputes that Inv. Michael Kelly cannot work because of his illness, but he's not eligible to retire until he reaches 30 years on the force rather than the ordinary 20-year retirement most city police officers are eligible for. Kelly was hired in 1981 so he is also entitled to benefits under an old contract that allows him to take unlimited sick time at full pay until he retires, Public Safety Commissioner Wayne Bennett said. Kelly can not retire for another three years and continues to use unlimited sick time. A disability retirement won't pay as much as his full 30-year pension, said Schenectady Corporation Counsel L. John Van Norden. The only way to amend Kelly's contractual obligation is through a home-rule message for the state Legislature. Van Norden said it's the first time he's aware the city has sought home rule legislation to assist in a police officer retiring. The City Council on Monday approved a measure that allows Mayor Brian U. Stratton to seek the legislation. Schenectady Police Benevolent Association President Lt. Robert Hamilton said it's his understanding that Kelly didn't check a retirement box when he was hired. The city signed him up for the most least expensive option, and Kelly never disputed it because he wanted to work the entire 30 years anyway, Hamilton said. Kelly couldn't be reached for comment. ``It was so many years back,'' Bennett said, ``it's hard to make a determination about whether it's entirely his fault or management's fault or both.'' Van Norden said Kelly has no incentive to apply for retirement because he's disabled. ``He would suffer a huge loss of compensation. He's doing exactly what he's entitled to do,'' Van Norden said. City officials want Kelly to retire so that they can fill his position. The police union agrees, saying it would be a win for both sides. Data on Schenectady police gross salaries for 2007 show that Kelly made $60,626 in 2007. Bennett, however, said Kelly's salary and benefits equal to a payout of about $81,000 a year. Bennett said the department could pursue a civil service termination against Kelly. But Bennett said that could take more than a year, and an arbitrator could still rule that Kelly can stay on the force. The city isn't sure how long pursuing a home rule message will take either. Van Norden said the city will use a lobbyist to try and convince Schenectady's legislators to sponsor the message.
``It was so many years back,'' Bennett said, ``it's hard to make a determination about whether it's entirely his fault or management's fault or both.''
Yeah, sure, okay.....
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Figure out Kaczmarek’s role and prosecute accordingly
Former Schenectady Police Chief Gregory Kaczmarek has yet to be charged in connection with last week’s big drug bust that ensnared his wife, Lisa, and 20-year-old stepson. But any layperson reading the transcripts of phone conversations between Mrs. Kaczmarek and alleged supplier Kerry “Slim” Kirkem would likely be convinced that not only was Kaczmarek himself using cocaine, but that he was well aware of his wife’s business dealings. The latter may not constitute a crime, but the state police indictment also makes it seem that Kaczmarek was involved in his wife’s alleged drug operation: It stated he was party to a strategy session between his wife and Kirkem after police intercepted a shipment of drugs bound for Schenectady in February. And on a taped phone conversation between Kirkem and Mrs. Kaczmarek, he is overheard in the background, offering to drive to Long Island with Kirkem to pick up a shipment of drugs. Also in this conversation, Mrs. Kaczmarek quotes her husband as saying he’ll flash his badge if necessary. Kaczmarek, of course, retired from the Schenectady Police Department several years ago, but there is still considerable public interest — given the rumors and denials about his drug use when he was promoted to the job, and what’s happened in the department vis-a-vis drugs and rogue cops ever since — in seeing that justice is done here. If the former chief was at all involved in his wife’s dope-peddling operation, he needs to be prosecuted for it. The reputation of Schenectady’s police department, and the entire city, has suffered yet again as a result of this story, and if Kaczmarek is guilty and allowed to get off scotfree, it will add further insult to the injury.
Ex-chief unlikely to face charges, experts say Gregory Kaczmarek's knowledge of a drug operation that allegedly involves his wife would not be enough
By PAUL NELSON, Staff writer First published: Wednesday, May 14, 2008
SCHENECTADY -- A law professor and local attorneys agree it's unlikely former Schenectady police chief Gregory T. Kaczmarek will face criminal charges related to a 13-month probe into a drug enterprise that has ensnared two of his family members. Albany Law School Professor Daniel Moriarty said just having knowledge about the alleged Schenectady-based narcotics operation is not enough to accuse the former chief, who has had to deal with rumors of drug use in the past.
Kaczmarek's wife, Lisa, 48, and stepson, Miles Smith, 20, were among 24 people indicted last week following a 13-month state attorney general investigation into a drug operation that allegedly funneled large quantities of crack cocaine and heroin from Long Island to Schenectady for distribution. The Schenectady County grand jury indictment outlines elaborate plans to peddle drugs out of four apartments in Schenectady and one in Coram in Suffolk County, Long Island. Stash houses where the drugs, guns and drug proceeds would be stored also are described in the court document. And while wiretapped phone conversations indicate Gregory Kaczmarek was present during talks his wife allegedly had with accused ringleader Kerry "Slim" Kirkem, 40, that alone doesn't make him an accomplice to a crime, according to the law professor. "To be an accomplice, you have to intend to aid, intend to participate," Moriarty said. "Knowledge is not sufficient, purpose is sufficient." Lawyers speaking about the investigation agreed with Moriarty's assessment, noting it would be an uphill legal battle even if Lisa Kaczmarek opted to testify against her husband. In that scenario, Gregory Kaczmarek could argue he never made comments that his wife attributes to him -- about flashing his police badge to assist with the drug running -- since his voice is only captured in the background on a wiretapped phone conversation. His attorney also could contend that any remarks he may have made are not admissible in court because he was having a privileged conversation with his spouse. The Kaczmareks are being represented by Kevin Luibrand. "I think if they had evidence they would have charged him," Luibrand said. "There was enough to require that he protect his interest." And prosecutors would need to corroborate any testimony Lisa Kaczmarek might give. "Her testimony would have to be corroborated by somebody else's," Moriarty said. This is not the first time the Kaczmareks have been mentioned in connection with drugs. When then-Schenectady Mayor Albert P. Jurczynski was considering Gregory Kaczmarek for chief in 1996, Kaczmarek held a remarkable news conference to challenge rumors. "I'm not a drug user or abuser and never have been one," he said at the time. He retired in 2002. Three years ago, Lisa Kaczmarek was arrested after allegedly being caught with marijuana when she went through a security checkpoint at Schenectady City Court. That case was later adjourned and sealed. Moriarty said considering potential charges against Gregory Kaczmarek would be a different story if he were still active in law enforcement and had allegedly flashed his police badge. "If he was still a police officer, then he would have certain legal duties," he said. But without the active status, "You may have certain moral and social obligations, but no legal obligations." Meanwhile, two of the 24 defendants named in the indictment remained at large Tuesday, according to authorities. Paul Nelson can be reached at 454-5347 or by e-mail at pnelson@timesunion.com.
Who appointed this guy as chief way back then? When you read all of the articles, it repeats several times that the x-chief was under suspicion of drug use back then. I am then lead to believe that this SPD/drug fiasco has been going on for a decade.
Perhaps it is time that the taxpaying residents start sending letters/emails to the AG and have a FULL investigation of this entire SPD going way back up to the present. And not just the SPD, but the local governing powers that have allowed this illegal, bad behavior to go on. Cause ya can't tell me that no one, all the way from the top down, was not aware of any of this. Talk about corruption!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
How about giving all the members in the police department from the chief on down a drug test and those that fail are fired on the spot just like in the private sector.
How about giving all the members in the police department from the chief on down a drug test and those that fail are fired on the spot just like in the private sector.
the unions would NEVER allow this to happen, guaranteed
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