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Former FDNY chief pleads guilty to conspiring to receive bribes to speed up building inspections

Former FDNY chief pleads guilty to conspiring to receive bribes to speed up building inspections

Yahoo29-01-2025

Former FDNY Chief Anthony Saccavino pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiring to accept thousands of dollars in bribes for speeding up inspections for businesses with matters before the department.
Saccavino, 59, is accused of expediting fire inspections for building owners who could pay up in a scheme that saw him and his co-conspirators rake in nearly $200,000 in illegal kickbacks.
'I accepted cash in exchange for preferential treatment for entities with business before the Bureau of Fire Prevention,' he admitted in Manhattan Federal Court on Wednesday morning.
Saccavino, former chief of the bureau, and another chief, former Deputy Assistant Chief Brian Cordasco, were charged with the crimes in September. Cordasco, 49, pleaded guilty a month later to charges he raked in upwards of $5,000 in bribes between 2021 and 2023.
Bureau of Fire Prevention, or BFP, is responsible for greenlighting the installation of fire safety and suppression systems in both commercial and residential buildings, and without a passed inspection by the BFP, a building may not be allowed to open.
A retired FDNY inspector, Henry Santiago, Jr., who has also pleaded guilty to related charges, helped funnel the ill-gotten gains to them as they stepped in to speed up inspections after the pandemic, when a backlog of requests had built up, according to prosecutors.
Saccavino confessed to just one of the five counts he is charged with — still denying charges of bribery, conspiracy and wire fraud. Saccavino also still denies that he lied to FBI agents in an interview.
Outside the courtroom, Saccavino's lawyer, Joseph Caldarera, called his client, who was a first responder on 9/11, 'an American hero,' and said that the guilty plea meant Saccavino 'put his family first,' adding that not 'everything' in the indictment was correct.
Saccavino must pay back the $57,000 bribes from the scheme, according to his plea agreement. While the maximum sentence for his crime is five years behind bars, the former chief agreed not to fight any prison time of less than 60 months.
This scheme happened at the same time Mayor Adams' City Hall allegedly worked to fast-track FDNY inspections for real estate developers who were cozy with the administration, using the so-called 'Deputy Mayor of Operations list' — named before it fell under the purview of that official.
The unrelated case against Adams alleges in part that he accepted bribes from associates of the Turkish government to circumvent fire safety checks at the country's Manhattan consulate.
'Anthony Saccavino betrayed the City agency he was chosen to lead by repeatedly selling access to the Bureau of Fire Prevention's services in a pay-to-play bribery scheme,' acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sasson said in a statement.
'This Office will continue to ensure that City officials who place their own interests above those of the public will be held accountable.'
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Greenwood said that if he were to stand trial for this count, prosecutors would have brought a bevy of evidence including cell phone records, FDNY internal email and financial records.

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Work is worth the risk: Undocumented workers in LA say they have no choice
Work is worth the risk: Undocumented workers in LA say they have no choice

Yahoo

time38 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

Work is worth the risk: Undocumented workers in LA say they have no choice

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Proud Boys lawsuit over Jan. 6 faces steep legal odds, high political cost
Proud Boys lawsuit over Jan. 6 faces steep legal odds, high political cost

Yahoo

timean hour ago

  • Yahoo

Proud Boys lawsuit over Jan. 6 faces steep legal odds, high political cost

A $100 million lawsuit brought against the Justice Department by five Proud Boys leaders convicted over the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack faces steep legal odds, but its political cost could be significant. The Proud Boys claim the government violated their constitutional rights in its prosecution of their efforts to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election, which culminated in the riot. It places the Trump administration in an awkward position: defend the sweeping Jan. 6 prosecution or potentially pay out millions to the right-wing leaders convicted of spearheading the attack. 'I would be shocked if there was any fulsome opposition put forth by the government here,' said Jon Lewis, a research fellow at the Program on Extremism at George Washington University. 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Trump has pardoned more than 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants and commuted the sentences of 13 extremist group leaders charged in the attack. The Proud Boys leaders are likely the 'least sympathetic' of those hundreds of rioters who might sue for damages over their Jan. 6 prosecutions if this lawsuit is successful, Fan noted. 'If I were somebody at DOJ thinking about settling, I'd be like, 'If we settle for these guys, then everyone else probably would get money, too,'' he said. And, it could embolden extremists and justify future acts of political violence, Lewis said. 'This sends a message to every far-right extremist out there who, when push comes to shove, will be that much more willing to answer the call to arms next time because they know that they have the Department of Justice on their side,' he said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Bus driver on drugs is jailed for killing girl, 9
Bus driver on drugs is jailed for killing girl, 9

Yahoo

time2 hours ago

  • Yahoo

Bus driver on drugs is jailed for killing girl, 9

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