Judicial officer’s expenses questioned

An Ontario justice of the peace is facing a formal conduct hearing for allegedly falsifying more than 600 expense claims for meals, hotels, highway tolls and mileage for court dates in the Niagara region.

Santino Spadafora allegedly submitted expense claims for travel for out-of-town court assignments “that showed a pattern of repeatedly providing misleading and untrue facts,” according to the notice of hearing prepared by the Justices of the Peace Review Council.

The alleged irregularities in Spadafora’s expense accounts between 2005 and 2011 previously prompted criminal charges against him. Those charges were withdrawn in late 2012.

Spadafora could not be reached for comment, but his lawyer, Mark Sandler, said his client “denies that he ever deliberately engaged in any misconduct and intends to fully defend his reputation at the hearing.”

“The complaint which initiated these proceedings was the same complaint that brought about criminal charges against him which were appropriately dropped by the prosecution,” Sandler said.

A news release from the attorney general upon Spadafora’s appointment as a justice of the peace in Newmarket in 2000 describes him as a former Toronto police officer who operated a paralegal service.

According to the notice of hearing, Spadafora claimed travel and hotel costs for the night before out-oftown court assignments in the Niagara region “in circumstances where he did not travel to the area on the night prior to court.”

Spadafora allegedly submitted more than 600 “over-claimed” expenses to the tune of $16,400, the notice of hearing alleges.

Possible sanctions range from a warning to suspension without pay. The hearing will be held May 9 at Neeson & Associates in Toronto.