The downfall of a petty tyrant
In the city of Schenectady,
in the State of New York, a school maintenance man named Steve Raucci worked
his way up the ranks for 30 years, until finally he was the head of the local Civil Service Employees
Association (CSEA) unit for operations and maintenance in the city’s schools
and as such, he was literally in
charge of the maintenance department. That's when he started messing with his
employees. He teased them at meetings, was punishing them with crummy work
assignments or worse yet; he was secretly slashing their tires in the middle of
the night. Raucci was later put on trial in Schenectady
County Court for allegedly igniting explosives and vandalizing homes and cars
of those who crossed him—some of whom are school employees.
Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney has
collected Raucci’s extensive personal notes, thousands of pages of documents
taken off a computer seized from Raucci’s Niskayuna home. Prosecutors submitted
about 90 pages of notes and e-mails as evidence against Raucci.
Some of Raucci’s notes, pointed to possible
motives for his crimes. But much of the musings dealt with Raucci’s day-to-day
interactions that, if true, raised questions about how the district has been
run by him in recent years.
David Ralston Sr., previous CSEA unit head,
testified that once Raucci took over the union position in 2001, maintenance
employees would work Monday to Friday on campaigns, stuffing envelopes and
participating in phone banks. One of the custodians later testified that he was
called away during the workday to stuff fliers in Schenectady High School
mailboxes the day before the election of who was to be the head of CSEA and who
was to serve on the board.
In a May 2006 e-mail to Michael San Angelo, the
assistant superintendent for business, Raucci vehemently denied his workers
campaigned on taxpayer time. “At no time did I, nor would I ever ask anyone to
operate or perform a request by me that is a violation of district policy,
unethical, illegal or inappropriate.”
After hearing Raucii’s notes read to him,
Janiszewski said school unions always lobby for items in the budget after their
campaigning efforts. He said what would be wrong is if Raucci used workers on
school time to campaign and then expected to be paid for it [by the taxpayers].
Janiszewski said he specifically told Raucci not to involve workers during
their shifts.
It was alleged that Raucci also found ways to
get around union protections to fire employees and then obscure what he had
done from the school board with the assistance of other administrators. For
example, he got plumber Bob Nunamacher fired under the auspices of layoffs due
to overstaffing in March 2006; the layoff letter was written by San Angelo. But
the school board was told Nunamacher left for personal reasons, and another
plumber was hired three months later.
Raucci also had decided that he wanted Energy
Manager Lou Semione’s job, so he worked to undermine the quality of Semione’s
work. Prosecutors have alleged Raucci logged onto a computer that controls the
buildings’ boilers and turned them on during Columbus Day break in 2003. In
another instance, school electrician John LaPointe Jr. testified that Raucci
purposely left the football field lights on all day. San Angelo said Semione
was fired because energy usage did not decrease enough under his watch. It
wasn’t him who had increased the electrical energy usage, it was Raucci who had
done it so that he could get Semione fired and then get his job.
Raucci was given Semione’s job and was paid
tens of thousands of dollars a year in overtime. The state Comptroller’s office
later ruled the district had no proof Raucci worked $50,836-worth of overtime
in 2007-08.
Raucci believed he controlled many employees’
destinies in the district because according to him, he had the ear of all the
right people.
Raucci’s victims told the court of how Raucci’s
crimes had affected them, the sleepless nights, the fear of what Raucci would
do next, the constant threats and worst of all, how it affected their families.
Deborah
Gray told of how she watched as her husband, rifle in hand, investigated
dead-of-night noises they feared were Raucci. She never knew if he would come
back. Laura Balogh spoke of the emotional trauma suffered by her children.
Balogh’s daughter, she told the court, didn’t want to go off to college, for
fear of leaving her mother alone. There was also the time her daughter woke up
screaming, believing her mother had been killed, an incident Balogh could
hardly recount before she choked up. Ron Kriss spoke of
his elderly parents, who lived with him in Rotterdam as Raucci continued his
threats. His family lived in constant fear, he said. His father had passed away
in April 2008, less than a year before Raucci was arrested. Raucci’s actions
tormented Kriss’ father until the day he died. “My
father died not knowing if my mother would be safe,” an emotional Kriss told
the judge. “For me, and in front of this court and God, there is no forgiveness
for this.”
Raucci also had his say, but he spoke through his
attorney. Defense attorney Ronald De Angelus read into the record a statement
from his client in which Raucci maintained his innocence. His statement gave an
account markedly different from the one on secretly-recorded tapes made by an
old friend-turned-informant.
It was obvious to the judge and everyone else in the court room that
this petty tyrant didn’t want to take the stand because if he did, his
testimony would be shredded by the prosecutor. No doubt, his lawyer’s
presentation of Raucci’s feeble explanation was received by the judge as
garbage being thrown in the judge’s face.
The sentencing came two months after a
Schenectady County jury found Raucci guilty of 18 of 22 counts lodged against
him.
The Schenectady County District Attorney Robert
Carney told the judge his calculation of the maximum allowed was more than
118-years-to-life.
In handing down her sentence, Judge Hoye called
the evidence against Raucci at the four-week trial “voluminous and convincing
and, at times, even overwhelming.”
Prosecutor Carney did not ask for a specific
number, but he asked for sentences that reflected the repeated nature of
Raucci’s crimes, and sentences that reflected his many victims. Prosecutors in the
State of New York can merge several crimes within a single indictment when
there is proof that either offense would be "material and admissible"
as trial evidence of the other crime or come under similar statutory
provisions.
The sentence that Judge Hoye gave in March 2015 was
largely one with concurrent sentences, time that will run together. But there
were two exceptions. Raucci received 20 years to life for first-degree arson.
Two consecutive sentences, for vandalism done to Kriss’ vehicles and attempted
coercion of another victim, tacked on three years to the minimum.
The sentence means the 61-year-old Raucci won’t
be eligible for parole until February 2032, when he’s 83 years old. He has been
incarcerated since his arrest in February 2009 and will receive credit for the six
years he had already served while waiting for his trial.
Raucci received his sentence in a courtroom
packed with reporters, family and friends, victims and investigators. Some
Raucci supporters wrote letters on Raucci’s behalf. Among those not present were Raucci’s wife
and stepdaughter.
In a much-anticipated
decision, the midlevel appeals court upheld his conviction for arson,
conspiracy and other crimes in a wave of vandalism. In a 16-page ruling released, the Appellate
Division of state Supreme Court rejected Raucci's
arguments regarding his convictions for crimes outside Schenectady County,
unfavorable decisions by a county court judge on key defense motions, and an
FBI video and the fact that Raucci didn't take the stand at the trial and for
this reason he couldn't be cross-examined. The appellate panel also ruled
against Raucci's claims that his prison sentence is harsh and excessive and
that his lawyer, Ronald DeAngelus, did a
poor job of representing him. Raucci’s latter claim is a typical ploy that
losers who are truly guilty as charge reach out to a higher court for a change
in the verdict. It is like a drowning man reaching out for straw that is just
out of reach.
Despite
his conviction, Raucci remains totally
unrepentant. To
this day, he still draws an
$80,000 annual pension. He may not live enough to collect it but his wife will
get it if Raucci dies in prison. Then again, he may end up with very little. If
he is sued by his victims, and they get judgement, against him, they can grab
at least 80 % of his pension.
Steve Raucci's story is perfect case study in
leadership and power. Raucci drew power from as many sources as he could find
and he exploited that power to gain even more power. As time progressed and his
power increased, Raucci's actions then became dangerous to his employees and
their families. But like all tyrants,
their end is what they all deserve and what this tyrant deserved.
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