NATIONAL COALITION OF SCHOOL BUS SAFETY NEWS 2007

The Bad Guys Behind the Wheel
78 Drivers and Matrons Busted in 2006 Alone
March 20, 2007

CASE HISTORY #1 - FRANK ESPOSITO
Frank (Fat Frank) Esposito, 52, pleaded guilty to driving while impaired in 1998, according to court records that indicate he had two employers between 1973 and 2005 - first, a moving company and then a school bus firm, Atlantic Express Bus Co.

A 2005 federal indictment against Esposito, identified as an associate of the Bonanno crime family, ended when he pleaded guilty to a book-making charge and was sentenced to three years' probation last July.

However, in November, the Department of Education allowed him to resume driving a school bus for his employer, Amboy Bus Co., an Atlantic Express subsidiary.

When approached by a Daily News reporter, Esposito claimed he wasn't THAT Frank Esposito. Before driving away from in front of a home in Howard Beach, Queens, owned by THAT Frank Esposito, in a car registered to THAT Frank Esposito, he said he worked for a cargo container company in Brooklyn.

The News independently confirmed through a law enforcement source that the person spoken to and photographed was the same Frank Esposito named in the bookmaking indictment and listed in DMV records as holding a certification to drive a school bus.

The Department of Education said Sunday that "Esposito is currently a driver."

CASE HISTORY #2 - NICOLE EVANS
In the early morning hours of Aug. 27, 2005, school bus monitor Nicole Evans, 32, led Ricky Simmons to the apartment of her ex-boyfriend, where, according to police, Simmons shot the man three times in the head and neck.

According to the criminal complaint, earlier that day Evans had told Simmons that the ex-boyfriend had been abusive during their relationship.

Evans and Simmons were arrested two months later, and now face murder charges. Evans is suspended from her job with Jofaz Transportation Inc., pending disposition of the charges, according to the Department of Education.

CASE HISTORY #3 - FRANK CAPPELLO
Frank Cappello, 53, was arrested July 28 after he was found inside the lobby of a Marlboro Houses apartment building in Brooklyn with crack cocaine, according to a police complaint. He was not suspended, however, until Aug. 31 - more than a month later - when a union representative told his employer of the arrest. The bus company then informed the Department of Education.

Cappello tested positive for cocaine on Sept. 7 and his certification to drive a school bus was revoked.

"I did indulge myself on the weekends during the summer," Cappello told The News in a startlingly candid interview this month. "But I wasn't driving during the summer." Cappello, a school bus driver for 32 years before his arrest and positive drug test ended his career, admitted he had drugs in his system.

"I was bombed, who knows? I came up with cocaine," he said. "If I had to really think about it, did I really do anything in that bathroom that night? I probably did."

Meet Frank (Fat Frank) Esposito. According to a 2005 federal indictment, he's an associate of the Bonanno crime family.

Then there's Frank Cappello. He was arrested last summer for possession of crack cocaine, and later failed a drug test.

Nesly Dorce has been arrested at least four times, on charges that include burglary, criminal possession of stolen property and - last October - criminal possession of marijuana.

Finally, there's Joseph Petrillo. According to an Oct. 26 criminal complaint, he pulled a knife on his father and threatened to give him "what he deserved."

All four of these men are, or recently were, New York City school bus drivers.

And drivers aren't the only ones getting into legal trouble. In October 2005, school bus monitor Nicole Evans was arrested and charged with murder.

As part of a four-month investigation into the New York City school bus system, the Daily News has documented disturbing details about the backgrounds of some drivers and bus monitors, and has uncovered important concerns about the adequacy of requirements to get such jobs, and keep them.

At least 78 bus drivers and monitors - who work for private companies, not the Department of Education - were arrested last year, a 63% increase from 48 arrests in 2005.

The charges included endangering the welfare of a child, DWI, narcotics and assault, according to data obtained from the city's special commissioner for investigation for the New York City School District.

Also, records from the Department of Education show that at least three drivers were arrested for rape last year; at least two of the cases involved charges of incest, records show.

One bus monitor had "managed to get himself arrested twice in one week!" according to an internal Department of Education report obtained by The News.

That monitor was arrested July 3 for criminal mischief, and again on July 7 for criminal contempt. He was then placed on the department's ineligible list and his school bus monitor certification was suspended.

Most of the arrests were for off-duty conduct, although one driver was arrested on Staten Island for shoplifting during a field trip; another was charged with endangering the welfare of a child and unlawful imprisonment after allegedly using black electrical tape and seat belts to tie up a 7-year-old girl.

Dozens of other drivers and monitors have been employed despite criminal convictions, including manslaughter, attempted murder, DWI and burglary. In some of those cases, bus personnel with criminal records were arrested again after being hired.

Under state DMV rules, depending on the severity of the offenses, anyone convicted of a crime can still become a school bus driver.

In most cases, applicants are eligible as long as at least five years have passed since their conviction, or they obtain a letter from their trial court stating they have been rehabilitated.

For more serious crimes, applicants are eligible once they have been out of prison for five years and they receive a rehabilitation letter.

And while the Department of Education does run criminal background checks on potential drivers and monitors, the checks are limited to New York State.

Still, Department of Education officials say, driver or monitor applications from anyone with a criminal record are considered on a case-by-case basis - although the department said Sunday that it permanently bars anyone ever convicted of a sexual or violent felony.

While hiring people with other criminal histories may be allowed, the policy seems to fall well short of the standards pronounced on a Web site operated by the Office of Pupil Transportation, the agency within the Department of Education responsible for overseeing school bus drivers and monitors.

The site reads, in part: "To protect the safety and welfare of children, all bus companies must employ only persons of good moral character to drive school buses."

The problem with bad drivers and monitors, who are required on all buses for special-needs students, goes beyond individuals, according to two reports by richard Condon, special commissioner for investigation for the New York City School District.

An October 2004 investigation found that TransCare, which provided transportation for special-needs students, had hired 25 people with criminal convictions - including manslaughter and attempted murder.

The report singled out one unnamed employee who had seven convictions between 1995 and 2002, including petty larceny and criminal possession of stolen property.

In addition, the investigation found that nearly all of Trans-Care's 360 employees did not have proper certifications. responsibility for making sure that all bus company employees are certified rests with the Department of Education, but in this case Condon's office found that the department had failed to conduct the proper checks.

It turned out that the Department of Education could not even agree on which office internally was responsible for conducting checks on drivers of special-needs students.

According to the report, "Officials at OPT and [the Office of Purchasing Management] each named the other when asked to explain which department was responsible."

A second investigation, completed in January 2005, into JoLo Bus Co., found that uncertified bus monitors were being used on school buses and that, once again, the Office of Pupil Transportation had failed to ensure that monitors were certified.

As The News has reported earlier in this series, recordkeeping does not seem to be a strong point within the Department of Education. records provided by the Office of Pupil Transportation, for example, show that 61 drivers and monitors were arrested for off-duty offenses last year. But Condon's office said it obtained its figure of 74 arrests from the Department of Education.

The News has calculated at least 78 arrests for 2006 after verifying that four arrests included in the Department of Education total were not included in Condon's figure.

None of those totals include federal criminal charges or arrests made outside of the state.

A News analysis of driver and bus monitor figures from Condon's office and the Department of Education for 2004 to 2006 shows 173 arrests on 241 charges, including 46 for assault, 33 for theft of property, 17 for narcotics, 13 for endangering the welfare of a child, 10 for DWI, seven for criminal possession of a weapon, two for robbery and two for sexual abuse, among others.

Concerned about the number of arrests and the seriousness of the crimes, Dr. Alan Ross of the National Coalition for School Bus Safety called for higher screening standards, such as those used in other high-risk professions.

"Just like you would want your pilot to be healthy and safe, we should expect the same from our school bus drivers," Ross said. "After all, our children are our most precious asset."

This Daily News Investigative Team series was reported and written by Staff Writers GREG B. SMITH, ROBERT GEARTY and BENJAMIN LESSER, and Assistant Managing Editor RICHARD T. PIENCIAK

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