Convictions of ex county, town officials upheld

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Convictions of ex county, town officials upheld

The 2014 convictions of two former Nassau County legislators and a former Town of North Hempstead official for attempting to direct a project to a specific developer were affirmed in an appellate court on Thursday.

The New York State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division denied appeals by former county legislators Roger Corbin and Patrick Williams, and Neville Mullings, the former North Hempstead Community Development Agency executive director, according to appellate court filings.

According to Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas’ office, the three men were indicted in 2010 following a three-year investigation into a “multi-million dollar” New Cassel Redevlopment Projects that was aimed at revitalizing its downtown areas.

The investigation found a number of schemes, including “bid-rigging, bribery and attempts to steer the project to a specific developer,” the DA’s office said.

“Instead of revitalizing the New Cassel community, these corrupt officials used their positions of power to line their own pockets,” Singas said in a statement. “Public corruption is a scourge on our county and my office will continue to use every tool at our disposal to hold accountable anyone who violates the public’s trust.”

According to Newsday, a Nassau jury convicted all three men on charges of directing the project towards a specific developer, selling false exclusivity rights to a bank and stealing $150,000 in public funds.

In 2014, Newsday reported, an appellate judge granted Corbin, Williams and Mullings sentence stays during their appeals.

The appellate court said in three separate rulings that after reviewing the evidence, “it was legally sufficient to establish the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”

Corbin, of Westbury, was sentenced to two to six years in prison for second-degree bribe receiving and official misconduct, while Williams, of Uniondale, was sentenced to one year in prison for two counts of fourth-degree conspiracy.

Mullings, of Westbury, was sentenced to nine months in jail for two counts of fourth-degree conspiracy and two counts of official misconduct.

The three men can request that the state Court of Appeals hear their cases. But if the state’s highest court declines to hear the cases, or rejects the appeal, Corbin, Williams and Mullings would have to begin their jail terms.

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