Seneca County undersheriff admits misconduct, gets jail

ROCHESTER - A former police official pleaded guilty to a variety of theft and official misconduct charges - including trying to pin crimes on residents who criticized him - in a scandal that rocked the sheriff's department in rural Seneca County.

James Larson, 47, who resigned as the department's undersheriff in March 2006 a few months after misconduct complaints surfaced, drew a 21-month jail sentence Wednesday in Waterloo, the county seat, after apologizing and accepting responsibility for his conduct.

Former Sheriff Leo Connolly is awaiting trial this summer on official misconduct charges that he too targeted his Internet critics with “selective enforcement” and offered a sheriff's deputy overtime pay to carry out his orders. Four of his deputies were also implicated.