Police open probe into Sauro pension

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - The Providence Police Department is launching a criminal probe in response to a Target 12 investigation that revealed a retired firefighter who collects a tax-free disability pension is also a dedicated weightlifter.

Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare said Tuesday he's directed Police Col. Dean Esserman to have his detectives explore whether criminal charges should be filed against John Sauro, 48, of Cranston, who retired in October 2000 with an accidental disability pension because of an injured right shoulder.

• Projo Editorial: Sauro's rehabilitation regime

"We're just beginning a criminal investigation," Pare said. "If there is probable cause that a crime was committed, we'll prosecute." The potential charges could include obtaining money under false pretenses, he said.

Sauro isn't the only retiree in the commissioner's sights. Pare said he has identified up to 100 other disability pensions awarded to fire personnel that he wants examined. They were granted in the early 1990s, when eight out of 10 fire retirees were awarded a tax-free pension for an on-the-job injury, he said.

• Watch: Undercover video of John Sauro's workout
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"If there is any fraud we detect in our review, we will proceed in aggressively prosecuting those individuals," Pare said.

Undercover video shot by Target 12 shows Sauro working out at a local gym over a week's time. The footage documents him doing an exercise routine that includes lifting 205 pounds on an incline bench, performing shoulder exercises with 150-pound dumbbells, and hanging by his arms to do leg raises.

Pare said he "was concerned" by the contents of the undercover video. "That day, after it broke, I saw a little bit of the piece and on its face it was questionable about the legitimacy of the pension," he said.

Sauro himself reacted to the video by saying he was disabled "as far as being a firefighter" because of injuries sustained while "carrying someone down three flights of stairs." A call to his attorney, Samuel Lovett, was not immediately returned on Tuesday.

Sauro takes home about $3,800 a month in tax-free pension payments. The city also pays $1,800 a month for his health insurance. Providence Retirement Board member and City Councilman John Igliozzi has said he plans to have the board review Sauro's case.

Pare said the city has consulted with Attorney General Peter Kilmartin's office about the Sauro case because it will require a review of medical records. He also said he did not think it was necessary to have the state police conduct the investigation rather than the city's detectives.

"It's difficult to do, but I have every confidence that they'll be thorough and complete in their investigation," Pare said.

Accidental disability pensions will make up more than half the $29 million the Providence Fire Department spends on pension payments this year, according to an analysis of payroll records by Target 12. City records show 58 percent of all firefighters or their families receive a disability pension for being hurt on the job - 329 out of 569 as of January. All but 10 of those are tax-free.

Target 12 has also learned that 918 retirees collecting accidental disability pensions were asked to recertify their injuries in 2009 and 2010, but only 824 of them responded and no pensions were overturned or reexamined as a result.

Pare said his top priority is protecting the financial and legal integrity of Providence's pension system, particularly amid a broader budget crisis.

"Firefighting and police work is dangerous, and you're going to have people that are permanently disabled," he said. "We should protect [disability pensions] for those people that are legitimately injured."

tnesi@wpri.com / twhite@wpri.com

This story has been revised to correct disability pensions' share of all fire department pensions in Providence.