Posted on 05/01/2004 12:39:46 PM PDT by wagglebee
A convicted felon made more money on work release at his state job than the warden does at the prison where the inmate was housed.
Rock Mueller's salary while under contract, $55,200 a year, and the fact that he was hired to help run the state's anti-smoking program at all, is being questioned following the release of an audit that showed possible illegal activity by Mueller.
The FBI and Nebraska State Patrol are investigating.
Gov. Mike Johanns was not consulted about hiring Mueller, said Johanns' spokeswoman Terri Teuber.
"His immediate reaction was that it certainly appears he was overpaid," Teuber said Thursday. "Had he (the governor) been consulted he would not have been paid that amount."
Johanns does not fault then-Health and Human Services director Ron Ross for hiring Mueller and attempting to give him a second chance following his convictions, Teuber said.
State Auditor Kate Witek said she also was surprised at Mueller's salary. "I think a job like that should have gone out to the public," she said.
Mueller entered into a contract with the state Health and Human Services to work for $4,600 a month, or $55,200 a year, while still in prison. The superintendent at the Lincoln Community Corrections Center, where Mueller returned at night after working his HHS job, earns just $53,909 a year.
Mueller was under contract with the state and in prison from April 2001 through September of that year. After being paroled he continued working for the state under contract until he was hired as a regular employee in 2003, earning $40,900 a year.
It is common for prison inmates to secure jobs with state agencies while on work release, said Nebraska Department of Corrections spokesman Steve King. It is uncommon for a work release inmate to be earning as much as Mueller was, King said. "He was making really good money," King said.
The job was at least the second time Mueller worked for the state. Witek said he worked for the state Education Department from 1988 to 1991.
Documents provided to The Associated Press by the Scottsbluff Star-Herald on Thursday show that Scottsbluff police Lt. Robert Kinsey sent a letter to then-Gov. Kay Orr on Oct. 26, 1990, warning her about Mueller's prior conviction for theft. Orr responded that Mueller was doing a good job but that she would let the Education Department know.
Calls made by The Associated Press to a number listed under Mueller's wife's name in Lincoln went unanswered Thursday.
In a statement faxed to the Lincoln Journal Star, Mueller's attorney, John C. Ball, said Mueller knows the allegations are inaccurate and unfounded and Mueller has cooperated in the investigation so far.
"He is comforted by the fact that those who know him know he is innocent," Ball said in the release.
Witek wants to take a closer look at how many inmates in Nebraska's prisons are given state jobs before they have completed their sentences.
Ross defended the salary and the timing of the hiring.
"He was entitled to work on a work release. That's what they have the program for," Ross said.
Mueller's position was unique in that a large part of his job initially was to speak to young people at the state's detention centers about how to turn their lives around and the dangers of tobacco, Ross said.
"It takes somebody that's been there and we thought it was somebody who had bettered themselves," Ross said.
Statistics show that inmates on work release are less likely to commit another crime, King said. The goal of the program is for the inmate to find a job that they can keep once they are released, he said.
"We have many more of the individuals who are successful than those who aren't," King said. Currently there are 128 inmates on work release and an additional 267 on work detail, which requires a higher level of supervision.
Lori McClurg, director of the state's Department of Administrative Services, which oversees personnel issues, said inmates on work release do not undergo any additional screening or supervision than other employees.
As long as the work release program allows them to be employed by the state, they can work, she said.
The state also does not track work release inmates once they are hired, McClurg said.
While there is nothing illegal about Mueller being hired while on work release, the manner in which he got the job raises concerns, Witek said.
Mueller got the initial contract without having to submit a bid or compete with anyone else.
Ross said not seeking bids was within the law because Mueller's initial contract was for $23,000, which was below the $25,000 minimum value required for bids to be sought.
Mueller also was paid $73,931 in "marketing fees" and $4,349 in expenses over 19 months from Pioneer Development and Support Services. Pioneer was a contractor hired by the state to do work on the anti-smoking hotline that Mueller was to supervise.
The audit also said Mueller altered bid documents to ensure that Pioneer won the contract.
Mueller, a former Scottsbluff insurance agent, left his state job on Jan. 30.
Mueller, 50, was serving his second prison sentence for theft at the time of his hiring. His first conviction, out of Scotts Bluff County in 1987, was for stealing $205,411 from his employer, New York Life Insurance Co.
His second prison sentence involved two theft convictions in 1998 for depositing more than $100,000 of checks from his employer, plumbing wholesale business Ferguson Enterprises, in his personal account.
While working for HHS, he was in charge of overseeing the tobacco quit line, teen tobacco prevention programs and programs targeting diverse populations.
I'm pretty sure I heard today that a lot of money for the anti-smoking program is 'missing'. They really should have checked out this guys background first before entrusting him with that kind of responsibility.
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