Bribery case against former Islip official ends; summations Friday
Former Islip Town official John Carney arrives for the start of his bribery trial at State Supreme Court in Central Islip on Tuesday, April 18, 2017. Credit: Ed Betz
Testimony in the bribery and coercion trial against former Islip Town Public Safety Commissioner John J. Carney concluded Thursday and will reconvene Friday morning with summations.
Following the end of testimony Thursday, defense attorney James Pascarella, of Mineola, made a motion to dismiss the indictment in State Supreme Court in Central Islip, arguing that prosecutors “failed to establish” Carney had committed the crimes for which he is charged.
Those include four class D felonies of third-degree bribe receiving, and 12 class A misdemeanors — four counts of official misconduct and eight counts of second-degree coercion.
Justice Fernando Camacho denied the defense motion on the 12 misdemeanors, but reserved decision on the felony counts until the jury reaches a verdict.
Carney was indicted Sept. 13, as was Michael A. Allen, who was an Islip assistant chief fire marshal at the time the crimes allegedly were committed, for what prosecutors have called a scheme to coerce four civil service candidates into declining job offers for Islip Town fire marshal jobs so that provisional employees — some who scored lower on the list — could be hired.
Allen, who will be tried separately from Carney, is due back in court May 18.
During opening statements on Tuesday, Assistant District Attorney Kevin Ward said the case was about Carney’s abuse of “power” in his public position. Pascarella called his client “the victim of politics.”
The trial had been estimated to last about two weeks, but prosecutors only called nine witnesses from their original list of 17. Those who testified for the prosecution include the four complaining witnesses — Jared Gunst, Matthew Julian, Victor Aquanno and Brett Reiersen.
Other witnesses who took the stand were Alan Schneider, head of Suffolk County Civil Service; current Islip Town Public Safety Commissioner Anthony D’Amico; Philip Alvarez, a Suffolk County detective on loan to the Suffolk district attorney’s government corruption unit; Michael Catalano, former Islip Town chief fire marshal; and Kenneth Weeks, Islip Town’s chief building inspector and director of the building department.
Pascarella on Thursday called one witness, Ronald Walker, a full-time Town of Islip fire marshal.
Carney, citing health reasons, resigned from his commissioner position a week before the indictment. Allen was demoted after his indictment to his previous title of fire marshal II and placed on administrative duty.
Both pleaded not guilty and were released on their own recognizance.
