Syracuse, NY - Sheriff’s Deputy Bill Hess took a rare day off from work in May to attend the graduation of his first son, Matt, from Upstate Medical University only to have the joyous occasion turn somber. When Hess wasn’t feeling well after the ceremony, his newly minted doctor son examined him, felt what appeared to be an enlarged liver...
Syracuse, NY - Sheriff’s Deputy Bill Hess took a rare day off from work in May to attend the graduation of his first son, Matt, from Upstate Medical University only to have the joyous occasion turn somber.
When Hess wasn’t feeling well after the ceremony, his newly minted doctor son examined him, felt what appeared to be an enlarged liver and immediately got his dad to the hospital to be admitted for tests, according to wife Irene. Those tests, she said, showed that Hess had colon cancer that had already spread to his liver and partially to his lungs.
After 35 years with the Sheriff’s department jail division as a transport deputy – and a reputation for regularly working 80-hour weeks – the 59-year-old Hess was forced to retire. Many of his Sheriff’s Department colleagues, lawyers, judges and various local court employees with whom Hess worked turned out for a recent retirement party, Irene said.
“It was just a joyous retirement party,” she noted.
According to Irene, Bill regularly volunteered for overtime and extra assignments in order to make enough money to fulfill the college and medical school dreams of Matt, now 26, and his younger son, Jonathan, a student at Le Moyne College.
Sheriff Kevin Walsh said Hess has been “an extraordinary example” of what the Sheriff’s Department is all about, characterizing him as “an industrious person looking for every opportunity to serve the public.”
That runs in his family: His father, Wilbur Hess, climbed the ranks of the Syracuse Fire Department to become chief and his three brothers still serve in that department, Irene said.
Irene, forced to retire on disability from her job as a jail deputy after being violently attacked by an inmate in 1986, said she and Bill were determined to see that their sons had a better life than they had. Despite all the overtime, Bill always managed to make family affairs and special events in the boys’ lives, she said.
He’s now fighting for his own life, having started chemotherapy to battle the cancer.
Judge sets high bail in dog-abuse case
Neither the prosecution nor the defense got what they wanted for bail when Reginald Stepp appeared before Onondaga County Judge Tony Aloi in connection with animal cruelty charges. But the prosecutor was probably a lot happier with the result.
Stepp, charged in connection with the abuse of a puppy whose jaw was nearly severed, was in jail with no bail because he had at least two prior felony convictions.
Defense lawyer Christine Cook asked for $1,000 bail or the Pretrial Release Program, noting Stepp has 3-year-old twin sons he cares for at home.
Assistant DA Bridget Scholl asked for $10,000 cash or $20,000 bond, noting Stepp has three prior felony convictions, five prior misdemeanor convictions and five prior bench warrants for failing to appear in court.
The judge set bail at $100,000, bluntly noting he didn’t want Stepp to get out of jail until the animal cruelty matter was resolved.
Being "young and stupid" doesn't block plea deal
Kyle Kull’s new arrest on a DWI charge while free awaiting sentencing in a drug case did not stop Onondaga County Judge Bill Walsh from imposing the agreed upon drug-case sentence.
But it clearly didn’t sit well with Walsh who sentenced Kull to five years’ probation with youthful offender treatment after warning him he could have faced up to nine years in state prison.
The judge told Kull there was an old saying that before one becomes old and wise, he must be young and stupid.
“You’re still at the first level,” Walsh said.
When defense lawyer Ed Dunn began to explain there were extenuating circumstances to the new arrest, Walsh bluntly cut him off by noting the lawyer might just end up talking the judge out of sticking with the original deal.