A Harford County Sheriff's Office senior deputy, who is assigned to the county jail, has been charged with misdemeanor theft, the Sheriff's Office announced Thursday morning.
Senior Deputy Carlos Jusino, who has been with the Sheriff's Office since September of 2000, was charged via criminal summons delivered to him Wednesday.
The charges were issued after the Sheriff's Office Criminal Investigation Division and its Office of Professional Standards investigated "allegations of misconduct" by Jusino, according to a news release.
The misconduct allegations do not involve inmates at the Harford County Detention Center, according to the news release. The facility is just north of Bel Air.
Jusino, 45, of Perryville, has been charged with three counts of theft with a value of less than $1,000, theft-scheme and giving a false statement to an officer, according to online court records. A trial date is scheduled for Jan. 10, 2017, in the Harford County District Court in Bel Air. He did not have a lawyer listed in online court records as of Thursday afternoon.
Jusino has been suspended with pay during the criminal investigation, and he remains suspended with pay as the Sheriff's Office conducts an additional internal administrative investigation, according to the news release.
The Sheriff's Office cannot provide additional information regarding the charges or the investigation, since the internal investigation is ongoing, spokesperson Cristie Kahler said via email. Details of what led to the charges were not released by the Sheriff's Office.
"The Harford County Sheriff's Office understands the community we serve deserves transparency and accountability, and the actions taken in this case demonstrate our commitment to earn and maintain our communities' trust," Sheriff Jeffrey Gahler said in a statement. "While I cannot comment any further, as it could jeopardize the integrity of the administrative investigation, I believe strongly that the community deserves to know when a member of this agency has been criminally charged."
The Harford County State's Attorney's Office conducted its own investigation to determine the appropriate charges once the Sheriff's Office provided its information to prosecutors, according to the news release.
Jusino is suspected of taking three pieces of Sheriff's Office property, listed as an "MVA 2017 expiration tab," "MVA 2016 expiration tab" and a "MVA 2015 expiration tab," according to charging documents filed in District Court and signed by Assistant State's Attorney Tracey Delp.
Each tab is worth $187, according to charging documents.
Jusino faces an additional charges for allegedly creating a scheme to steal Sheriff's Office property and for giving a false statement to a Sheriff's Office investigator, according to the documents.
Kahler declined to comment further when asked how the Sheriff's Office uses the expiration tabs, citing the ongoing internal investigation.
The charges against Jusino are the second instance of alleged criminal activity involving jail staff to be made public this year.
The Rev. Kennis A. Rolle Sr., a former chaplain at the detention center, was indicted in June on charges he allegedly inappropriately touched two female inmates while meeting with them in his office.
The Sheriff's Office terminated Rolle's employment, but the Harford County State's Attorney's Office decided late last month not to pursue a case against Rolle and placed the charges on the court's stet, or inactive, docket.
Harford State's Attorney Joseph Cassilly noted Nov. 1 that "the expected testimony against Rolle was not as specific as the earlier statements."