Executive Team
Jason Chofooklun
Chief Operating Officer
Jason Chofooklun has held numerous positions at Command Investigations, including SIU Investigator, Surveillance Investigator, Operations Manager, Regional Vice President of Operations and Chief Operating Officer.
Chofooklun’s daily responsibilities as Chief Operating Officer include the execution of all operating functions, marketing initiatives, and national growth.
His other duties include the management of Command’s Vendor Management Program, national safety program, investigator corporate training program and operational oversight of large territories.
Before joining Command, Chofooklun spent over six years in the safety and security field working for a large privately held company.
In 2009, Chofooklun graduated from the University of Phoenix with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Criminal Justice.
Chofooklun served over four years in the United States Marine Corps and was honorably discharged in 2003. He completed boot camp at the top of his class and was meritoriously promoted twice, reaching the rank of Sergeant within two years.
Seth Markham
Chief Revenue Officer
As Chief Revenue Officer, Markham leads the sales and marketing teams of Command Investigations and Discovery Investigations, a subsidiary of Command. His focus is on growth through strategic planning and implementation, branding, internal collaboration and efficiency, and development of new partnerships, while continuing Command’s long-established history of excellence in customer service and satisfaction.
Markham, whose prior role was Division President of Discovery Investigations, with roots in Texas and New Mexico, has a long history in the insurance investigative industry on both the operations and sales sides. From his early success as a “National Investigator of the Year”, to founding Candid Investigation Services, to his current position, Markham has developed a unique knowledge of the insurance services space.
Markham is a certified continuing education and has taught numerous courses to the workers’ compensation and insurance claims community.
Rich Perri
Founder
Rich Perri has worked in the private investigative industry for over 23 years.
After receiving a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Pittsburgh, Perri decided to pursue a career as a private investigator.
Perri co-founded Command Investigations, LLC in 2012.
Prior to Command, Perri helped facilitate the opening of RSight Investigations, Inc. He served multiple roles throughout his tenure, including Investigator Trainer, Senior Investigator, Field Supervisor, Operations Manager, Senior Operations Manager, Sales Executive, Senior Sales Executive and Vice President of Marketing.
Perri began his career at a national investigative company headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He worked as an investigator for five years, where he conducted investigative assignments throughout the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States.
Steve Cassell
Senior Strategic Advisor
Steve Cassell is our Senior Strategic Advisor. He founded Command Investigations in 2012, following more than 20 years of successful work in the investigative and insurance claims communities.
He holds his private investigator license in 10 states, and is an accredited continuing education instructor in more than five states.
Cassell was the first private investigator elected to the Florida Workers’ Compensation Fraud Task Force Board. The Board provides critical industry data, legislative recommendations and insight to the Florida Legislature.
In addition to Command, Cassell founded the National Investigative Training Academy, Inc. (NITA).
NITA offers students the convenience of achieving their investigative and security training goals through their comprehensive online platform that includes the required training needed to begin and maintain their professional careers.
Before founding Command, Cassell owned RSight Investigations (RSight), which employed hundreds of investigators and staff.
RSight and Command were both recapitalized to support strategic expansion and service offerings to large self-insured employers, insurance carriers, Third Party Administrators (TPAs) and the legal defense community.
A graduate of Temple University, Cassell is married with two children.
Vice Presidents
David Martinez
Executive Vice President
Martinez possesses over 28 years of experience in the investigative field and serves as the Executive Vice President of Discovery Surveillance.
In this role, he oversees the development and maintenance of local accounts in the Central and Southwest regions of the United States, as well as national accounts.
Martinez began his investigative career in the field as a manager/investigator and rapidly moved into a sales role.
Later, Martinez joined a firm out of New Mexico where he held the role of Owner/Regional Sales Representative and built an impressive book of business of insurance carriers, TPA’s and employers. That company was ultimately sold to a large, national firm, where Martinez served as Regional Sales Director.
Martinez’s career culminated in the formation of Discovery Surveillance, now part of the Command family of brands. He continues to foster the strong relationships he has built over the years while also
developing new partnerships nationwide.
Martinez served in the United States Marnie Corps for eight years as a Sergeant and E-5 Radio Operator and was also a reserve police officer with the Magnolia Police Department in Texas for three years.
He holds a degree in criminal justice from San Jacinto College and attended the police academy at the University of Houston.
Russ Schwalbe
Senior Vice President of Operations
Russ Schwalbe has worked in the investigative field for over 21 years. He currently serves as our Senior Vice President of Operations.
His primary duties include quality control and oversight of our investigative products. He also handles investigative compliance, policy and protocol development, recruitment and training.
Schwalbe spent over nine years at RSight Investigations, where he was promoted from Operations Manager to Regional Operations Manager.
Prior to RSight, he worked as a Field Investigator for a security service and insurance defense company. In that role, he conducted surveillance, performed activity checks, took recorded statements and conducted background research to determine employment status, degree of activity and degree of disability for hundreds of claimants.
He has successfully recruited, trained and managed investigators throughout the states of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina, California, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Delaware.
Schwalbe began his career as an Undercover Narcotics Investigator where he investigated persons suspected of sale or use of narcotics, theft and other illegal activities within the workplace.
He graduated from the University of South Florida with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice.
Larry Dodd
Vice President of SIU and Key Account Sales
Larry Dodd has worked in the private investigative and law-enforcement fields for over 26 years.
He currently holds the position of Vice President of SIU & Key Account Sales.
His duties include managing our national SIU compliance program, national regulatory reporting, on-site customer consultation, fraud assessment analysis and oversight of our Restitution Management Program™.
Dodd maintains strong relationships with various state enforcement bureaus throughout the country, including state attorney’s offices, attorney general’s offices, state anti-fraud departments, and federal and local law enforcement offices.
He began working in the private investigative field for RSight Investigations, Inc. He was promoted throughout his time there, beginning as Senior Investigator, transitioning to Operations Manager and ultimately becoming the SIU Manager.
He started his career with the Somers Point Police Department in New Jersey, where he was a patrol officer for two years before being promoted to the detective bureau.
During his time with the detective bureau, he investigated various criminal matters including homicides, robberies, assaults, sex crimes, and white-collar crimes. He also conducted crime scene and employment background investigations.
He was then assigned to the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office’s Narcotics Task Force, where he conducted undercover narcotics investigations.
Chuck King
Vice President of Key Accounts
King has worked in the investigative field for over 30 years and serves as our Vice President of Key Accounts.
In this role, he fosters the strong relationships he has built over the years while also developing new partnerships nationwide.
King began his career in the private investigation field and worked his way up to Vice President/Director of Operations for one of the largest Pittsburgh-based investigation companies. He then ventured into the law enforcement field, where he was a Deputy Sheriff in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania.
In 1996, King began his own private investigation firm along with his wife Gerri, and built an impressive record providing best-in-class investigative services to nationally recognized employers and carriers. He has been requested by numerous law firms and carriers for claim resolution strategies, and he works closely with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies on fraudulent claim arrests.
King has been a featured guest speaker at numerous workers’ compensation industry events and has testified in over 100 workers’ compensation cases.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania and has completed the Reid Technique of Interviewing and Interrogation, as well as several U.S. Department of Justice, state and county training programs.
He is a member of the Pennsylvania Sheriff’s Association, as well as an instructor and second-degree black belt in martial arts.
Taylor Perri
Vice President of Sales- California
Taylor Perri has been in the investigative and marketing fields for over seven years. He is currently our Vice President of Sales - California.
We entered the California market in late 2015, and Perri has been instrumental in developing the area into a thriving investigative operation since then.
In his role, Perri's responsibilities include client sales, account management, customer expansion and account development across the entire state of California and the surrounding areas.
Prior to his promotion to Vice President of Sales - California, he served as a Senior Account Manager where he was responsible for introducing our services to the western United States.
Before joining our sales team, Perri was an investigator in the Southwest Florida region, where he was awarded 'Outstanding Performance' and 'Rookie of the Year' awards for his efforts.
He also served as an in-house Background Investigator at our corporate headquarters, where he worked closely with clients to ensure they received the highest level of service and results.
Perri graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University with a bachelor’s degree in sports medicine and a minor in business administration.
Management
Lori Vilece
Controller
As Command's Controller, Vilece plans, directs and coordinates all accounting operational functions from our Corporate Headquarters in Lake Mary, FL.
Vilece brings almost 30 years of experience in analytical and management skills to the Command team.
Prior to joining Command, Vilece held the role of Manager, Worldwide Financial Reporting, for a large global brand of consumer products. During that time, she was instrumental in the implementation of new technology, onboarding of users and management of senior level staff.
Vilece holds a Master of Accounting degree and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Jim Maez
Director of Operations
Maez has been in the private investigative field for over 16 years and serves as the Director of Operations of Discovery Surveillance.
In this role, he is responsible for the oversight of daily operations in the Central and Southwest regions of the United States, as well as national vendor services.
Maez began his investigative career in the field as a surveillance, field and SIU investigator. He consistently ranked as a top investigator and received many accolades for his outstanding performance.
Maez conducted thousands of investigations across the country and quickly moved into a management role for a large national firm, overseeing the daily operations of multiple states and teams of investigators.
Later, Maez joined Discovery Surveillance, now part of the Command family of brands. He continues to manage, train and develop a strong team of investigators and provide best-in-class service to local, regional and national clients.
Maez holds a private investigator license in both New Mexico and Texas.
He studied Liberal Arts and Criminal Justice at T.V.I. in New Mexico and has completed numerous courses in private investigation skills and techniques.
Angela Leason
Senior Manager - Background & SIU Services
Angela Leason is the senior manager of our Cyber & Background Investigations department, and oversees a team of licensed, in-house background investigators.
Her duties include, but are not limited to complex case management, technology administration and development, training, department quality assurance, client communication and client strategy.
Prior to her promotion, Leason worked in our SIU and Background departments.
In that dual-role, she conducted hundreds of complex investigations, working very closely with many different state fraud and law-enforcement agencies while pursuing matters related to insurance fraud.
In her time in the field, she conducted hundreds of recorded statements, asset searches and detailed jury research dossiers as a member of a litigation support team.
Leason also worked as a Field Investigator/Field Training Officer for a federal government entity. She managed a large portfolio of background cases and provided complete and detailed reports.
She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of Central Florida.
Otto Cruz
Senior Field Investigations Manager & Compliance
Otto Cruz has worked in the healthcare and insurance investigation industries for over 14 years.
As our Senior Field Investigations Manager & Compliance, Cruz is responsible for supervising a team of field investigators nationwide.
He oversees training pertaining to interviewing tactics and techniques for his team, and his other duties include case management, case scheduling, quality review, recorded statements and working complex cases.
Cruz began his career with Mercy Hospital. During that time, he developed interviewing and assessment techniques that were utilized to screen the public. These tools were used as counter fraud measures for people trying to obtain benefits.
In 2011, Cruz joined Zenith Insurance as a Field Investigator. He conducted face to face and over the phone recorded statements, as well as scene investigations, subrogation investigations and AOE/COE investigations. He also directly interacted with employers, insureds and SIU managers as he worked on behalf of Zenith to negotiate claim settlements.
Molly Grace
Assistant Controller
Molly Grace has worked in the investigative field for over 13 years.
As the assistant of our Treasury Management department, Grace manages daily financial operations, including invoicing, account reconciliation, accounts payable, accounts receivable and financial compliance.
Prior to her work with us, Grace was a member of the RSight Investigations team. She was part of more than a thousand investigations and oversaw investigative results, compliance and client reporting.
She holds a bachelor's degree from Niagara University.
Crystal Boutwell
Administrative Supervisor
As Administrative Supervisor, Crystal Boutwell manages our Administrative department and oversees quality assurance of all investigative assignments.
Prior to her promotion to Administrative Supervisor, Boutwell worked in the Administrative department, where she proofread and distributed investigative surveillance reports to clients.
Prior to her career with Command, Boutwell worked as a legal assistant where she drafted pleadings and motions, updated clients on case status and hearing results and scheduled events and hearings.
James Day
Operations Manager
As an Operations Manager, James Day is responsible for the day-to-day management of a full-time investigative team. This includes complex case management, scheduling, quality assurance, and all client-related communications.
Day has led surveillance operations and management in several regions, including Florida, Georgia, California, and the Northeast United States.
He currently oversees surveillance operations in the Northeast region of the country, including Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Ohio, and West Virginia.
Prior to his promotion to Operations Manager, Day worked as a Senior Field Investigator with us in the states of Florida and Georgia. He conducted surveillance, witness statements, and scene investigations.
Day began his investigative career as a private investigator in Florida. His duties included conducting surveillance for insurance and domestic cases, criminal defense investigations, crime scene investigations and skip tracing.
He graduated from Florida Atlantic University with a bachelor's degree in anthropology.
Kevin Lederer
Senior Key Account Manager
As Senior Key Account Manager, Kevin Lederer’s responsibilities include account management and development, new client sales, customer expansion and the planning and managing of the relationship between Command and some of our most important clients. Additionally, Lederer will be creating and teaching state accredited continuing education courses, hiring and training new sales team members and assisting executives on sales team initiatives.
Prior to his promotion to Senior Key Account Manager, Lederer served as a Regional Account Manager where his daily responsibilities included account management and development, new client sales and customer expansion.
Lederer also served as an Operations Manager and oversaw a full-time staff of investigators in the states of Florida, Georgia and California.
Before his advancement to Operations Manager, Lederer worked as a Senior Field Investigator in central and south Florida and was successful in conducting thousands of hours in surveillance operations.
Additionally, Lederer worked a variety of scene investigations, claimant interviews and other field investigations.
He began his career in private investigations with us in 2013 as an in-house investigator for our Special Investigations Unit (SIU). He completed a variety of tasks including suspect claims investigations, claims data fraud investigations and background checks.
He graduated from Florida Gulf Coast University with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice.
Paul Nunez
Operations Manager
Paul Nunez has been a member of our investigative team for over five years.
As an Operations Manager, he is responsible for managing a full-time team of investigators in the Southern California territory.
Nunez handles complex case management, scheduling, quality assurance, and all client investigative strategy and communication.
He began his career as an investigator working in various areas throughout the southeast including Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. His duties included surveillance, field investigations, human intelligence development, and report writing.
Nunez graduated from Florida SouthWestern State College with an associate's degree in criminal justice. He is an active member of the Florida Association of Professional Investigators.
Kyle Temples
Operations Manager
As one of our Operations Managers, Kyle Temples is responsible for the daily management of a dedicated investigative team, including complex case management, scheduling, quality assurance, and all client-related communications.
Prior to becoming an Operations Manager, Temples worked as an SIU Analyst in our SIU department.
In that role, he conducted claim investigations where he identified, investigated and reported persons or organizations potentially violating established state anti-fraud laws.
As part of this investigative process, time-sensitive reporting was prepared for both client and statutory reporting.
Before joining our team, Temples conducted hundreds of claims and surveillance investigations, oversaw a team of surveillance investigators and conducted recorded statements.
Temples received a bachelor's degree in criminal justice and a minor in psychology from Florida State University.
Jason Snodgrass
Account Manager
Jason Snodgrass currently holds the position of Account Manager, working with our clients throughout California and the Western United States.
In this role, he is responsible for sales, account management, customer relations, and account development.
Prior to being promoted to Account Manager, Snodgrass held the position of surveillance investigator in the Los Angeles area. He consistently delivered outstanding results on his assignments and was one of our top-performing investigators in the region.
Before joining us, he served in the United States Navy for more than five years, where he was a Construction Mechanic and a Supply Liaison for logistics and training. He was honorably discharged after successfully completing his contract.
Snodgrass attended Clarion University of Pennsylvania and Coastal Carolina University.
Andrew Wiedemann
Operations Manager
Andrew Wiedemann is one of our Operations Managers, and he currently oversees a team of investigators in the Central Florida region.
His daily tasks include case management, scheduling, quality assurance and all client-related communication for assignments in the region.
Prior to his promotion to Operations Manager, Wiedemann served as a surveillance investigator in Central Florida where his duties included surveillance, field investigations, human intelligence development, and report writing.
Wiedemann graduated from Monroe Community College in Rochester, New York with an associate's degree in business administration. He served four years in the United States Marine Corps and was honorably discharged as a Corporal in 2016.
Melanie Gomez
Regional Account Manager
Melanie Gomez holds the position of Regional Account Manager and services clients across California and the Western United States.
In this role, she is responsible for sales, account management, building customer relationships, and account development.
Before joining Command, Melanie worked as a Marketing Manager in California and has been working in the workers’ compensation industry since 2018. She has a background in insurance, case management, and law services sales.
Melanie is based out of Colorado and holds a bachelor’s degree in communication, as well as a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
Abram Popham
California Operations Manager
As the California Operations Manager, Abram Popham is responsible for the day-to-day management of a full-time investigative team. This includes complex case management, scheduling, quality assurance and all client related communications.
Prior to his promotion, Popham worked as a surveillance investigator in California where his duties included surveillance, human intelligence development and report writing.
Before Command, Popham served as a Police Officer for the Pasadena Police Department for two years and has served over five years in the United States Marine Corps Reserve as an Aircraft Recovery Specialist. As a Police Officer, he conducted preliminary investigations at the scenes of major crimes, apprehended offenders and conducted interviews and interrogations, and actively patrolled assigned areas to prevent and detect crimes.