[Sndbox] Dancing firefighter spins past jail

[Charles]

Dancing firefighter spins past jail

By CHRISENA COLEMAN DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

He apparently didn't step lightly enough to avoid being caught. A former ballet dancer-turned-firefighter who scammed the city out of workers' compensation benefits will dance his way around prison but has to return the $17,000 he stole. Curtis Crowe, 40, of Manhattan pleaded guilty Friday to receiving fraudulent benefits from the Workers' Compensation Fund. Crowe had been charged with ripping off the Hartford Insurance Co. and the Workers' Compensations Division of the New York City Law Department. A big payback Under the terms of the plea deal, Crowe will avoid going to jail, but Bronx Supreme Court Justice Steven Barrett ordered him to make full restitution of the funds. Barrett indicated that Crowe would be given a conditional discharge when he is formally sentenced in January. According to the investigation, Crowe was performing with a touring ballet troupe in Omaha when he was injured in a December 1999 fall. Two months later, he was sworn in as a New York City firefighter. According to court papers, Crowe was initially arrested in September 2002 for receiving $4,600 in Nebraska workers' compensation benefits while working as a firefighter. Through his fancy footwork, Crowe received and cashed 10 checks. The probe by the city Department of Investigation also found he had received benefit payments after being hurt while working as a city lifeguard in 1992. In 1997, the Workers' Compensation Board ruled Crowe was permanently partially disabled and awarded him $220 biweekly in benefits. Despite his disabled status, Crowe passed the FDNY physical exam before he was hired. Working but 'unemployed' Even though Crowe had been actively employed as a firefighter for nearly two years, he submitted an affidavit in December 2001 stating that he was unemployed. Crowe was released by the FDNY upon his conviction.

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