BLOOMFIELD–A Bloomfield man who is a former correction officer and Army reservist has been charged with illegally collecting state pay.
The state Department of Criminal Justice said in a statement that Lt. Col. Dennis Earl Dockery, 52, of Bloomfield, continued to receive state pay even though he was incarcerated at the time at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas. He was serving 17 months after being court martialed following an arrest in Hamden for assault while he was on active duty. His case was transferred from Hamden’s jurisdiction to the Army, and he pleaded guilty in September 2011 to charges of assault by battery and adultery, among other charges. He was also dismissed from the military as part of the court martial.
During his time at Fort Leavenworth, he was paid $5,182 for his correction officer job at the Enfield Correctional Institution as part of a program where state employees are paid a portion of their salaries while on active military duty leave. During his incarceration he continued submitting copies of altered military orders to the Department of Correction to hide his arrest so that he’d keep getting the money.
Dockery was fired by the DOC in May 2016, and has now been arrested and arraigned on charges of larceny in the first degree by defrauding a public community and two counts of forgery in the second degree.
Bail was set at $50,000 and his case was continued until August 1.
If found guilty, Dockery faces between one and 20 years for the larceny by defrauding the public charge, and one to five years each for the fraud charges. He also faces up to $25,000 in fines.
