A volunteer firefighter from Cutchogue has been charged with tampering with public records and official misconduct after entering nearly 100 false entries into the fire department’s computer system.
On September 30, 2023, James P. Burns responded to the Cutchogue Fire Department for an emergency call. While at the firehouse, Burns allegedly accessed an internal computer system that he was not authorized to use and made 96 changes to the records of 55 prior emergency calls. In so doing, Burns allegedly gave himself and three family members credit for attending previous emergency calls they did not actually attend.
These false entries provided Length of Service Award Program (LOSAP) credits to one of the Burns’ family members, which that family member allegedly did not earn, thereby potentially
providing future fraudulent monetary benefits.
On March 6, 2024, Burns, 27, was arrested by investigators of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office’s Public Corruption Squad. He was arraigned on the charges before Southold Town Justice Eileen Powers, for Tampering with Public Records in the First Degree, a Class D felony, and Official Misconduct, a Class A misdemeanor. Powers released Burns on his own
recognizance. Under current New York State law, the offenses Burns is charged with are considered non-bail eligible.
Burns is due back in court on April 26, 2024, and faces up to two and one-third to seven years in prison if convicted on the top count.
“These allegations evince a lack of integrity that is not representative of the brave men and women who volunteer to serve as firefighters in towns across Suffolk County,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney. “Our residents deserve honest government at all levels and my office will continue to seek out and prosecute violations of the public trust.”