Long Island Official, Reseller Arrested on Felony Charge

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It looks like at least one dog will be having his day--in court. Donald Rodgers is the IT Commissioner of Suffolk County, on Long Island's east end. He's also the owner and sole employee of Red Dog Design, a software consultancy. Rodgers yesterday was charged with a felony and two misdemeanors in connection with a multi-million dollar contract involving Microsoft and Dell.

The most serious of the three charges Rodgers faces is an E-class felony for offering a false instrument for filing. This resulted from a failure to report ownership of the consultancy and its 2012 revenue on a county financial disclosure form. After turning himself in to prosecutors on Thursday, Rodgers also was charged with two counts of official misconduct, both misdemeanors, and was released on his own recognizance. He's due back in court on June 19 and has been placed by the county on unpaid administrative leave.

One of the charges of misconduct resulted from Rodgers allegedly lying to Suffolk lawmakers during testimony last June relating to and enterprise agreement between the county and Dell and Microsoft. "According to prosecutor Chris McPartland, chief of investigations at the Suffolk County district attorney's office, Rodgers had signed a 17-page enterprise agreement with Microsoft on March 28 that resulted in a $1.45 million invoice being sent to the county from Dell Corp. on April 22," although the funds were not budgeted, according to Newsday.com.

"It's disappointing but not surprising," said Bob Venero, president and CEO of Future Tech Enterprise, a solution provider based in Holbrook, which is also in Suffolk County. "I've seen lots of things over the years as far as business ethics or lack thereof. And Suffolk County has had its challenges. Nassau too," he said, referring Suffolk's neighboring county to the west. State and local officials of both counties in recent years have been charged and jailed on various charges including corruption, fraud and larceny.

The second misconduct charge resulted from Rodgers allegedly pressuring a subordinate who works in the IT budget office to produce a bogus requisition number for use in a letter of intent that Rodgers was drafting, a letter he would ultimately send to Dell. "But this guy had a good job and was respected out there," said Verero. "It's a lesson in pigs get fat and hogs get slaughtered. It's OK to be a little piggy sometimes, but when you become a hog, you get killed. This guy is killed and his name is in the mud."