Plea deal for LIRR engineer who let passenger into cab

A former Long Island Rail Road engineer accused of allowing a passenger to operate a train pleaded guilty Tuesday to a charge of official misconduct, but did not admit to giving up control of the train to anyone.

Ronald Cabrera, 41, of Centereach, said in Nassau District Court in Mineola that he let William Kutsch, 48, of East Setauket, into the cab so that he could get free legal advice from Kutsch, a court stenographer. Cabrera was going through a divorce at the time, his attorney said.

In exchange for Cabrera's guilty plea to the misdemeanor charge, District Court Judge Francis Ricigliano sentenced him to 50 hours' community service and ordered him to pay a $500 fine.

A spokeswoman for District Attorney Kathleen Rice said that despite the plea agreement, prosecutors maintain that Cabrera allowed Kutsch to operate the train "and that's why we still have a pending case against Mr. Kutsch."

The official misconduct charge to which Cabrera pleaded guilty carried the same weight and maximum sentence as the reckless endangerment charge he had faced, spokeswoman Carole Trottere said.

According to prosecutors, on July 2, 2009, several witnesses saw Cabrera allow Kutsch behind the controls of the 6:45 a.m. westbound train on the Port Jefferson line as it traveled between Hicksville and the Hunterspoint Avenue station in Queens at speeds of up to 80 mph.

Following the arrests of the two men, Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice said they had put at risk the lives of the about 400 passengers on the train.

But Cabrera's attorney, William Keahon, of Hauppauge, said the plea deal "clearly establishes that my client never permitted anyone to operate in any fashion a Long Island Rail Road train."

Keahon said the resolution of the case could open the door to Cabrera getting his job back. The LIRR fired Cabrera, a 20-year employee, in September 2009 after an internal disciplinary review.

In a statement Tuesday, LIRR spokesman Joe Calderone said the railroad fired Cabrera "as a result of serious violations of safety rules. We stand by that decision."

A reckless endangerment charge is pending against Kutsch, who is due in court Oct. 26.

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"My client insists that he did not operate the train," said Kutsch's lawyer, Marc Gann of Mineola. "We hope to resolve the matter without going to trial, but we are prepared to do so if we need to."