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TROY---A veteran Troy firefighter has been indicted and was in the Rensselaer County Jail with no bail Friday, charged with stealing painkillers from a home during a fire call and giving them to his wife.
Captain Maurice Catel, 47, of Watervliet, a 20-year veteran, is facing felony charges of criminal possession and sale of a controlled substance and official misconduct, a misdemeanor.
Catel is reportedly going through a divorce and sources close to the case say it was his estranged wife who allegedly made allegations to the police about him.
Catel allegedly stole hydrocodone from a house while on an EMS call last April and gave the drugs to his now estranged wife for her back pain. When the couple began divorce proceedings, she reported him to police.
He will also face departmental charges. If he is convicted of a felony, he would lose his job and his pension, probably impacting any divorce settlement with his wife.
Catel was reportedly suspended from his fire duties in 2004 for allegedly mistreating a student at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He lost his EMT and paramedic licenses with the fire department at that time, resulting in a pay reduction. 2-24-07
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© 2007 North
Country Gazette
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