A Monroe County Sheriff’s deputy, who alleged in a lawsuit that the jail operation was beset by corruption, has received a $200,000 settlement to resolve the lawsuit.

The county paid another $240,000 to an outside law firm which handled the litigation, which was settled last year.

The county paid the settlement to Deputy Thomas Zembiec, county officials confirmed today.

In a 2004 lawsuit, Zembiec alleged that jail payrolls were falsified so workers were paid for time they didn’t work; that some jail workers possessed and used drugs; and that some high-ranking officials and other jail workers consorted with "temporarily released inmates and persons with criminal backgrounds in order to make money and receive free services."

Zembiec alleged that he was transferred from his job at the downtown jail to the Brighton facility to silence his complaints about corruption at the jail.

He claimed that two nurses at the downtown jail accused him of sexual harassment, and those charges were the official reason for his transfer.