The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 16, 1999

 

By Glen Justice

INQUIRER HARRISBURG BUREAU

HARRISBURG - A state investigation has accused the former director of the Pennsylvania Game Commission of illegally taking commission property, using employees to perform personal services, and violating game laws that regulate deer hunting.

Donald Madl spent more than 40 years working for the commission before retiring from his $89,891-a-year post in April after six years as executive director.

Madl denied the accusations through his lawyer yesterday. Officials at the Game Commission, which regulates hunting, said the findings had been forwarded to the Attorney General's Office for possible criminal prosecution.

"This is truly a sad day in the history of the Pennsylvania Game Commission," the agency's director, Vern Ross, said yesterday. He called on Madl to resign his volunteer post as a deputy wildlife conservation officer in Westmoreland County and repay the commission for the items he is accused of taking.

Madl has refused to resign, and his attorney, Al Lindsay, said yesterday that "it is my position that they smeared a dedicated public servant. He is innocent of any charges. They don't even make sense."

Neither the commission nor the state inspector general, who conducted the inquiry, would release the report. But Ross said in a statement that the report alleged that Madl had:

Used commission employees and equipment to perform personal services during work hours between 1988 and 1998. Among them: skinning 123 deer apparently shot by Madl, skinning 52 more apparently shot by Madl's family and friends, plowing the driveway to Madl's house from 10 to 12 times, and repairing Madl's hunting trailer about half a dozen times.

"Abused the commission's ordering system" since 1993 by ordering 67 pairs of black socks, 69 pairs of boot socks, four pairs of rubber boots, 14 pairs of "summer boots," eight pairs of "winter boots," seven pairs of dress shoes in various sizes, and six insulated vests. Though Madl was entitled to some uniform items, the report said the orders far exceeded those made by other employees.

Failed to return several pieces of equipment when he retired, including: 12 tires, a Sharp Wizard digital organizer, a Pentax camera, a Motorola radio, a Sony tape recorder, two computerized Global Positioning System units, and 11 Game Commission badges. Some of the items were returned after the probe began, commission spokesman Jerry Feaser said yesterday, and the agency is tallying the cost of the other items and plans to bill Madl.

Violated the Game and Wildlife Code, which regulates deer hunting. The report alleges that 50 to 60 of the deer Madl brought in for skinning were not properly accounted for with the required paperwork. It was not clear whether he shot them or acquired them in other ways. "There's no documentation to show either way," Feaser said.

The examination of Madl's conduct began shortly after Ross took office May 12, when Ross said he received information and forwarded it to the inspector general.

Though the two-year statute of limitations has run out on the alleged game law violations, the rest of the findings are being examined by Attorney General Mike Fisher's office.

"We will review it and give it the appropriate response," said Sean Connolly, Fisher's spokesman.

Lindsay would not comment specifically on the allegations. However, he said that investigators did not contact Madl and that he was not given a chance to respond. The commission's Feaser said Madl refused to cooperate.

Lindsay said he and his client were made aware of the specific accusations only yesterday. He said that Madl would not resign his deputy's job, which pays a $50-a-day stipend, until he is given a chance to defend himself.

"This is un-American," he said. "They make wild allegations, they don't tell the person they are doing it, and then they call a press conference."

A letter sent by Ross to Madl on Friday warned him that if he did not resign, the commission would seek to recall his deputy's commission.

"The conclusions of this investigation establish that you demonstrated little regard for the Game Commission, its employees or the sportsmen and sportswomen of Pennsylvania," Ross said in his letter.

"If you have any interest in repairing the damage you've done to the Game Commission's reputation or the morale of its employees, I urge you to submit a letter resigning your commission immediately."

Feaser said Madl was offered the chance to resign "to spare the commission any further embarrassment." He offered no timeline for the start of Madl's removal.