York County prison trainer testifies a doc he marked 'CV' isn't a CV, shouldn't be released

Prior to hiring a contractor called C-SAU to provide specialized training for officers at the York County Prison, facility Intelligence Commander Shawn Rohrbaugh performed what he called a “routine check.”

Rohrbaugh called references provided by the contractor, Joseph Garcia, and ran a criminal background check on the National Crime Information Center. The references checked out and the criminal background check came back clean, and C-SAU, and by extension, Garcia, was granted a $122,850 contract to provide equipment, including Kel-Tec KSG tactical, pump-action shotguns and training for up to 18 corrections officers.

Rohrbaugh, testifying Friday in York County Common Pleas Court during a hearing on a request by the York Daily Record to release Garcia’s curriculum vitae, said the county “did not request a CV or a resume” before granting the contract. He said he did not Google Garcia or search his social media history.

Garcia described himself during testimony Friday as a “contract employee” of C-SAU with the title “Senior Team Leader,” and his wife, Shawna Johnston, as “managing director” of the Greenville, S.C.-based company.

It was only after the Daily Record published stories examining Garcia’s qualifications and experience did the county obtain the contractor’s curriculum vitae.

However, the county didn’t ask for his CV. Garcia testified that he emailed two documents to Rohrbaugh “because of what they said in the papers” and that he sought to “debunk” the reports that examined his qualifications and experience. He claimed the newspaper reports were based on allegations raised by his ex-wife, who he said hoped to use them against him during an ongoing custody dispute.

Previously: :York County asserts jail contractor's CV is not a CV

Presviously:York County goes to court to block release of C-SAU 'Senior Team Leader' Joseph Garcia's CV

Garcia said those news stories included inaccuracies, but he hadn’t contacted the newspaper to ask for a correction.

The newspaper has asked the county to release the two documents Garcia sent to Rohrbaugh. The state Office of Open Records ruled the documents are public records and should be released. York County appealed the decision and now, under the law, has to prove why they should remain confidential.

One document has been released – a seven-page, partly redacted document stamped as “classified” that provides a condensed version of Garcia’s education, training and experience. The other document, which runs 128 or 129 pages, includes 41 letters of recommendation, 42 photographs and 42 certifications, according to a document entered into evidence in court.

York County Solicitor Michelle Pokrifka argued that the lengthier document is not a CV and that it wasn’t subject to the newspaper’s Right-to-Know request, which sought his CV. Paula Knudsen Burke, an attorney with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press who is representing the Daily Record in the case, argued that both documents are part of Garcia’s CV, noting that a title page in the longer document, included in a previous court filing, described it as a CV.

The county also argued that the longer document contains proprietary and “classified” information, as defined by Garcia.

But under cross examination, Burke introduced evidence that similar information – photos and videos – had been posted on Garcia’s Facebook page, making the “classified” argument moot since he was releasing that kind of information himself. Garcia said the firm that handles his social media posted the material only after he had received permission from the agencies involved to do so.

Burke also asked Garcia who classified the information, and he responded that C-SAU did, and that no government entity had deemed the materials in the document he prepared for York County as classified. He said he did not have permission from his clients to release the materials publicly. He also said the longer document includes a client list that could be poached by competitors.

Garcia, in response to Burke’s questions, said the photos on Facebook had only been posted after he received permission to make them public and that other people, a group that handles his social-media presence, had posted them and that he hadn’t done it himself.

And, at one point, Garcia said he didn’t know what a CV was, even though the longer document, which he said he had created, bore the title “CV.”

Rohrbaugh testified that when he received the two unsolicited documents as password-protected attachments in an email from Garcia sent on Sept. 19, 2021 – the passwords expired after 24 hours – he could not open the shorter document and assumed that it was a duplicate, even though the two attachments bore different titles and were different sizes.

The prison intelligence officer said he called two of the references included in the longer document – the Virginia Beach police department and sheriff’s office and officials in Charleston, S.C. – and was satisfied with the responses he received.

In November 2021, Rohrbaugh testified the county granted Garcia a new two-year contract valued at $252,770. Prior to awarding that contract, he said he re-ran the NCIC background check, mostly because of information reported in the newspaper articles. County policy, he said, was to re-check criminal backgrounds of those working in the prison every two years. He “did not ask for any additional information” from C-SAU or Garcia.

Controversy has surrounded Garcia and C-SAU's work at the prison. In December 2021, more than 45 current and former inmates filed a class-action suit against C-SAU, Garcia and York County alleging that its policies and training created “a toxic culture where excessive and unjustified terror and violence is perpetrated with impunity.” The defendants have denied the claims and that case is pending.

Related:'Excessive and unjustified terror and violence:' York County hit with lawsuit over C-SAU

Related:S.C. detention director says she warned York County Prison about controversial trainer C-SAU

The public record case involving Garcia’s CV may not be decided for more than two months. York County Judge Matthew Menges has given the county’s lawyers 30 days from the date of receiving the transcript of Friday’s proceeding to file a legal brief in support of their position. The newspaper’s lawyers will have 30 days from when the county files its brief to respond.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: York County prison trainer Joseph Garcia testified in CV case