(La Porte County, IN) - A La Porte County Commissioner has been cleared of alleged criminal wrongdoing by a special prosecutor after looking into the claims.
Connie Gramarossa was investigated, with help from Indiana State Police, for alleged acts such as taking a county-owned vehicle out of state without permission and signing a document in the name of Commissioner Joe Haney.
Marshall County Prosecutor E. Nelson Chipman, Jr. ruled that the findings of the investigation showed Gramarossa had committed the acts, but there was no intent on her part of breaking of the law. In his ruling, Chipman referred to the bitter political fighting amongst current and former commissioners and others in and around the county government over the past two and a half years in his written ruling.
“The people’s business is far too important for that to continue. La Porte County government is no exception. This squabble is better resolved at the ballot box rather than a jury box,” he said.
The findings included Gramarossa visiting family members at Westville in March via her assigned county government-owned vehicle. She took the vehicle out-of-state upon beinginformed during her visit that her son was in a hospital emergency room in Chicago. Several hours later, she left the hospital before striking the back end of another vehicle early in the morning.
Chipman said she violated county policy, but the policy is confusing in terms of who to seek permission from or if permission can be granted as an elected official herself before taking a vehicle to another state, adding to the liklihood of her being acquitted by a jury in the case of a trial.
The allegations of forgery involved her signing the name of Commissioner Haney on the copy of a policy document requested in early January by Commissioner Rich Mrozinski while he was in Florida.
Gramarossa signed her name and Haney’s name on the signature lines of the document.
Per Chipman, Gramarossa explained she did so at Haney’s request, but Haney denied giving her permission. Regardless, Chipman said there was no attempt by Gramarossa to make the signature look like Haney’s, which shows no intention of breaking the law.
“No attempt was made to imitate or otherwise disguise the signature of Joe Haney as both names were obviously in the same handwriting,” he said.
Her attorney, Stan Wruble, of Indianapolis reacted to the decision at Wednesday night’s La Porte County Commissioners’ meeting.
“If you want to use the term witch hunt, you can use that term. It’s not a term I use but I am hoping through the remainder of the terms of the commissioners that La Porte County can do the work of the people. It’s very important work that the three of you do as commissioners. As a former elected official, I know how difficult that job can be,” he said.
Wruble is formerly from South Bend.
