George Guldi a free man

Former Suffolk Legis. George Guldi is a free man.

Rather than face a new trial that would have started Jan. 2, Guldi pleaded guilty last week to one count of grand larceny in the second degree before state Supreme Court Justice Mark Cohen.

In return, prosecutors agreed to a sentence of time served. Guldi was released in July after serving the six-year maximum on an $82 million mortgage scam conviction.

Guldi still must undergo a restitution hearing beginning Dec. 13. Earlier, he had been ordered to pay $863,473 in restitution after his conviction at trial in 2011; a new hearing is required since the original conviction was overturned in the Appellate Division on other issues.

Guldi had been charged with keeping the $863,473 rather than using it to pay off the mortgage when his Westhampton Beach home was destroyed by fire in 2008.