By Forum Staff
A Long Island woman has been charged with submitting documentation falsely claiming that she had been treated by a doctor and physical therapists 29 times in 2022 to justify being out on sick leave from her position as a correction officer at Rikers Island, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and City Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber announced on Thursday.
Equanna Escalera, 43, was arraigned Thursday on a complaint charging her with grand larceny in the third degree, grand larceny in the fourth degree and 29 counts of offering a false instrument for filing in the second degree.
According to the charges and investigation, Escalera was employed as a correction officer assigned to Rikers Island and was out on sick leave from March 24, 2022, to Dec. 5, 2022.
Photo Courtesy of DOI
“Her conduct falls far short of the City’s high standards for correction officers whose work is critical to maintaining safety and order in the City’s jails,” DOI Commissioner Strauber said.
Under City regulations, uniformed correction officers who report sick for nine days or more during a calendar year may not leave their homes except under certain circumstances such as a visit to a physician or hospital. Those who do leave their residences are required to submit documentation about the trip to the Department of Correction’s Health Management Division.
Escalera submitted 31 letters covering 29 dates to HMD purporting that she received treatment by a physician or physical therapist at Multi-Specialty Pain Management in the Bronx between March 2022 and December 2022. The documents were written on the pain management center’s letterhead.
An investigation revealed that Escalera was not treated at the practice on the 29 dates she claimed and the practice had not given her permission to generate letters saying she had been seen.
On the 29 dates in question, Escalera received $11,200.78 in total pay.
Escalera surrendered to the DA’s Office on Thursday.
“As charged, this former correction officer faked medical documentation supporting her false claim that she was entitled to 29 days of paid sick leave, defrauding the City thousands of dollars in stolen wages,” Strauber said. “Her conduct falls far short of the City’s high standards for correction officers whose work is critical to maintaining safety and order in the City’s jails.”
If convicted, Escalera faces a potential maximum of 2 1/3 to seven years in prison.
