DA:Workers billed eBay costs to Bethpage school district

Two Bethpage school district employees were arrested Thursday, charged with using nearly $13,000 of the district's money to ship items they had sold through eBay.

Edward Catalano, 52, of Fort Salonga, and George Maggio Jr., 43, of Levittown, were charged with grand larceny and official misconduct, and face up to 7 years in prison, the Nassau County district attorney's office said.

Catalano worked as a stores clerk and Maggio worked as a custodian at the Bethpage Union Free School District. Authorities said the pair sent 1,611 items, including gaming materials, toys, clothes, ink cartridges, auto parts, books and tools they sold over nearly 21/2 years, through the online auction site eBay by using the district's UPS account. At least one item the pair sold - a vacuum - was district property, the district said.

The men each used a separate eBay account to carry out the sales between July 2007 and November 2009, the district attorney's office said.

Catalano, who had worked for the district since 1979, has since resigned, and the district has suspended Maggio, an 18-year employee, according to the Nassau district attorney's office and the district.

Yesterday, Catalano and Maggio were arraigned and released on their own recognizance. They are due back in court on June 23.

Graham Kistler, a Mineola lawyer representing Maggio, said before the arraignment "it's going to go through the process, and he's going to be exonerated."

Catalano's lawyer, Joseph Megale of Hempstead, called his client "a good, decent, responsible man" who has fully cooperated with the district attorney's investigation.

In a statement, the Bethpage school district said it received a tip about the theft, which prompted a review of the district's supplies department earlier this school year. The district then approached the district attorney's office.

"We continue to review district procedures and records to ensure that this remains an isolated incident," the statement said.