Another search warrant executed in Jewett

JEWETT―Another search warrant has been executed in Jewett, linked to a previous Greene County Sheriff’s Office raid of town hall and what police say are “allegations of potentially fraudulent activity.”

No details have been released on the latest search that took place on October 7, but Sheriff Peter Kusminsky said it was “part of an ongoing investigation.”

Sheriff’s investigators initially descended on the Jewett municipal building on July 2, 2025, conducting a sweep of town offices. At that time, they seized “electronic devices, paper files and business records,” according to sheriff’s Captain Joel Rowell.

Last week, rumors began to spread of a second search after residents saw a squadron of unmarked and marked sheriff’s vehicles, including a K-9 unit, on remote Route 23C, turning quickly onto dead-end Deer Valley Lane.

Deer Valley Lane is the home of town Planning Board Chairwoman Barbara Schobel who is referenced in a pending civil lawsuit connected to the original sheriff’s office entry into town hall.

Neither the sheriff’s office nor the Greene County District Attorney’s Office have revealed the precise mission of the first visit, two summers ago, or the more recent sojourn to the mountaintop community.

However, town board sessions became visibly tense following the July 2025 search and increasingly discordant over the ensuing months.

This past January, Highway Superintendent Robert Mallory and Town Clerk Maya Carl filed a notice of claim against the Town of Jewett and the town board, shedding possible light on the police involvement.

The document, a prerequisite to suing a government entity, laid out claims by Mallory and Carl that fellow town officials have been engaged in an alleged pattern of retribution against them, predating the July 2025 search.

Those alleged Civil Service Law violations came in the form of “creating a hostile work environment” for Mallory and Carl, as well as “intentional infliction of emotional distress” and “civil conspiracy.”

Mallory and Carl allege that “actions that resulted in this claim arose on or about April 16, 2025, and have continued to date.”

According to the notice of claim, during the fall of 2024, “Mallory became aware that a private home was being constructed and a foundation was laid on property [on Deer Valley Lane] owned by Barbara Schobel, the planning board chairperson for the Town of Jewett.”

Around that same time, the notice of claim states, Mallory mentioned to Carl “that the construction was in progress, and Plaintiff Carl mentioned that that was odd because she had not received a check for a building permit for that property.”

“Upon information and belief, a structure was fully framed on the Schobel property during the month of March 2025. By observation, the structure appeared to be over 2,000 square feet,” the notice of claim states.

“Around this time, Plaintiff Carl received a check for the building permit for the property that was on its face insufficient for the type and size of building being constructed… on April 9, 2025, the building inspector's report noted that a building permit was issued for the property for a 964 square feet accessory barn,” the notice of claim continues.

A week later, Mallory and Carl requested a meeting with the Town Supervisor, Greg Kroyer, to discuss the “apparently illegal and uninspected construction,” the notice of claim states.

They informed Greg Kroyer that “it appeared that building and zoning laws were disregarded during and following the construction of the planning board chair's house... Greg Kroyer downplayed the reported misconduct and code violations but nonetheless requested more time,” according to the notice of claim.

Mallory and Carl requested a second meeting with Kroyer on April 23, 2025, and “asked for an update on the misconduct and code violations and Greg Kroyer again asked for more time,” the notice of claim states.

The notice of claim further states that Kroyer advised Mallory and Carl that, “at the end of the process, the file would reflect the project.”

The notice to claim provides more alleged details, noting that over the next month or so, various conversations were had between Mallory, Carl, Town Attorney Tal Rappleyea, Kroyer and other board members.

“On May 14, 2025, Greg Kroyer told Plaintiff Mallory not to speak to any council members without his permission and stated that he would not have a meeting or discuss the issues further,” the document states.

“Upon information and belief, defendants have never taken steps to resolve the misconduct and compliance issues… after defendants failed to act, plaintiffs were left with no choice but to report the misconduct and compliance [issues] to the Greene County Sheriff's Office,” according to the notice of claim.

“Immediately following plaintiffs’ cooperation with law enforcement, defendants began a campaign to marginalize, embarrass, demean. and punish plaintiffs for their cooperation with law enforcement… Plaintiffs have been subjected to months of hostile behavior from defendants in the form of arguments, cold behavior, and hostile abuses of authority,” the notice of claim states, further alleging that councilpersons John Giordano, James Pellitteri, Jeanie Scotti, and Kroyer have “intimidated, excluded and disparaged plaintiffs.”

A supplementary notice of claim was filed in April of this year, with Mallory and Carl claiming that the alleged  “hostile work environment” was worsening.

That was followed in June by an Article 78 lawsuit brought by Mallory and Carl alleging “an abuse of power” within Jewett town government. Mallory and Carl claimed that two new policies enacted by the town board― a Security Policy and a Credit Card Policy―were “punitive, arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of power,” and should be annulled as “procedurally and substantively defective.”

All of those legal questions are lingering in the courts. Town officials, on advice of counsel, are offering no comment.