New York’s Staten Island. Several months after his alleged co-conspirator, a former FDNY chief from Staten Island, entered a guilty plea for his role in the same conspiracy, a former chief of the FDNY’s Bureau of Fire Prevention (BFP) pled guilty Wednesday to accepting bribes in exchange for accelerating inspections.
Manhattan resident Anthony Saccavino, 59, appeared before U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman in the Southern District of New York and confessed to conspiring to seek and accept a bribe. Prosecutors claim that Saccavino has agreed to forfeit $57,000, the estimated total amount of bribes he received, as part of his plea deal.
In connection with a bribery plan to seek and receive close to $190,000 from building owners and developers in New York City, Saccavino and 50-year-old Huguenot Brian Cordasco were accused in September.
Prosecutors claim that between 2021 and 2023, the pair gave preferential treatment in at least 30 distinct citywide initiatives. The BFP’s on-site inspections, design plans, and other services are expected to be approved in the order that they are received, and this could have a significant impact on how soon a building is occupied or made public.
In exchange for more than $50,000 in bribes, the former head of the Bureau of Fire Prevention gave special treatment to clients of a former FDNY colleague, accelerating the clients’ plan reviews and inspections, according to a statement issued on Wednesday by city Department of Investigation (DOI) Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber.
She said that public officials who undermine government’s ability to serve the public fairly through pay-to-play schemes will be held accountable, as evidenced by today’s guilty plea.
One count each of conspiracy to solicit and take a bribe, solicitation and receipt of a bribe, wire fraud, and making false statements to law enforcement was brought against Cordasco and Saccavino. Authorities were made aware of the plot by FDNY officials, who said that the defendants enriched themselves by exploiting developers and owners who were experiencing longer-than-normal wait periods as a result of a backlog of requests linked to the COVID-19 outbreak. The inquiry by the DOI started in the spring of 2023.
With a maximum penalty of five years in jail, Cordasco entered a guilty plea in October to conspiracy to solicit and receive a bribe. In addition, he consented to forfeit $57,000 and is due for sentencing in March. In May, Saccavino is expected to be sentenced.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, a third participant, 46-year-old Henry Santiago Jr., a Staten Island firefighter who had retired, cooperated with the government and agreed to a plea deal in September.
I want to thank Chief Saccavino for his heroic work as a 9/11 first responder and for his honorable service to the city of New York as a fireman since 1995. “He has been steadfast in his commitment to the community,” Joseph Caldarera, Saccavino’s lawyer, told the Advance/SILive.com. Prioritizing the welfare of his family, Mr. Saccavino made the tough decision to enter a guilty plea to a conspiracy charge today. He thinks this is the wisest course of action for his loved ones and respects the legal system.
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