The legal problems are mounting for a lieutenant with the state Department of Correction, who is accused of running a business while he was out of work and collecting disability payments.
An arrest warrant says Stephen Zaczynski, 49, of Suffield, filed for disability benefits in September 2008 for a job-related injury, and went on to run New England Pellet LLC and illegally collect nearly $13,000 while out of work.
That wood pellet company was also at the center of another legal problem. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal filed a suit in December 2008 against New England Pellet, LLC of Enfield and co-owners Zaczynski and Jason Tynan. Blumenthal accused the two men of accepting consumer payments for thousands of tons of wood pellet orders that it knew were impossible to fulfill.
By May 2008, New England Pellet needed between 10,000 and 15,000 tons of wood pellets -- but a wholesaler, New England Wood Pellet of New Hampshire, informed New England Pellet told them it might only be able to supply half that amount, Blumenthal said. By June 2008 the amount the wholesaler could supply dropped to one quarter of the pellet company’s outstanding delivery obligations.
New England Wood Pellet further warned Zaczynski’s company that it risked losing any pellet shipment because of alleged intimidating and condescending e-mails, Blumenthal said.
Zaczynski was charged Tuesday with workers' compensation fraud, larceny and failure to maintain workers' compensation insurance at his company.
Zaczynski was released on a promise to appear in Enfield Superior Court on Oct. 20. He did not immediately return a phone message to the Associated Press on Tuesday.
A prison system spokesman says Zaczynski was placed on paid leave Tuesday.
