No jail time for Cutchogue firefighter arrested for tampering with public records

A Cutchogue firefighter, who was accused last year of tampering with public records, will not face imprisonment or further probation supervision.

James P. Burns, 28, of Cutchogue, was arrested in March 2024 and initially found guilty for tampering with public records in the first degree for accessing a Cutchogue Fire Department internal computer system he was not authorized to use, making 96 fraudulent changes to the electronic records of 55 prior emergency calls, and giving himself and his three family members credit for attending previous emergency calls they were not actually present for.

These false entries provided Length of Service Award Program credits to one of Mr. Burn’s relatives, which that family member allegedly did not earn, potentially providing future fraudulent monetary benefits, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.

Defense attorney George Duncan said that since Mr. Burns has been under probationary supervision for the last few months and has completed roughly 280 hours of community service, he did not believe further supervision was necessary.

The prosecution confirmed Mr. Burns completed all conditions required by the Suffolk County DA.

He originally faced a little over two years to seven years maximum in prison. However, at his sentencing on Friday at Suffolk County Court in Riverhead, Judge Steven Pilewski ruled Mr. Burns’ guilty plea of public records tampering would be withdrawn, and he instead plead guilty to disorderly conduct.

Judge Pilewski sentenced Mr. Burns to a one-year conditional discharge, meaning he won’t serve prison time or further probation, and is only required to meet the judge’s conditions.