Former LIRR Worker's Falsified Report Linked To Derailment: Feds

SPEONK, NY — A former Long Island Rail Road employee was accused of falsifying an inspection report before a 2019 derailment in Speonk that brought service to a screeching halt on Memorial Day weekend.

Signalman Stuart Conklin, 63, of Magnolia, Texas, was charged with making a false entry in a railroad inspection report required to be maintained by LIRR under U.S. Department of Transportation regulations.

Conklin surrendered to federal authorities Thursday, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. He faces up to two years in prison if convicted.

The derailment happened May 25, 2019, after a Montauk-bound train sideswiped another train east of Speonk as part of a passing maneuver, officials said. No one was injured.

LIRR determined Conklin falsely indicated he inspected a broken rail bond about a month earlier on April 26, prosecutors said. The broken rail bond caused the derailment, prosecutors said.

Video footage from a LIRR camera showed Conklin did not inspect the rail bond, prosecutors said, adding Conklin submitted a letter of resignation six days after the derailment.

Anthony LaPinta, the Hauppauge-based attorney for Conklin, did not immediately return a request for comment.

“As alleged, Conklin’s false inspection report endangered passengers on a heavily used line of the Long Island Rail Road and potentially placed scores of riders in harm’s way,” acting U.S. Attorney Seth DuCharme said in a statement.

“It was an unconscionable betrayal to all New Yorkers for this signal inspector to allegedly claim a critical piece of Long Island Railroad infrastructure was safe when he didn’t even bother to look at it," MTA Inspector General Carolyn Pokorny said in a statement. “This is yet another example of why the MTA must stop relying on honor systems and implement systemic reforms to verify that claimed work was actually completed. By falsifying federally required documents, this individual put many riders at risk and it is a miracle no one was critically injured because of his actions.”