1 of 5 in building dept. corruption probe plead guilty

One of five defendants indicted in a Town of North Hempstead Building Department corruption probe pleaded guilty to six felony counts Wednesday, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced.

News 12 Staff

Oct 17, 2007, 9:18 PM

Updated 6,262 days ago

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One of five defendants indicted in a Town of North Hempstead Building Department corruption probe pleaded guilty to six felony counts Wednesday, Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice announced.
Andrew Acierno, 43, of Westbury, was a plans examiner for the department while concurrently drawing plans in the private sector, a violation of the town's code of ethics. Acierno pleaded guilty to the top charges he faced: felony scheming to defraud, two felony counts of first-degree offering a false instrument for filing and three felony counts of filing a false tax return.
Rice said Acierno will receive three months in prison, will be ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and must also pay $27,828 in restitution to New York state when he is sentenced on December 19.
Four former and current members of the building department were arrested on Monday, including David Wasserman, the former commissioner, Joseph Madden, the former deputy commissioner, and current building inspector Thomas McDonough. Former plumbing inspector Joseph Lomonaco was indicted in August.
The remaining defendants face a host of charges, including grand larceny, bribe receiving and official misconduct.
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