01.13.05 -
Former Mayor of L.I. Village
Charged With Faking Expenses
A former mayor of a Long Island village, where a state audit seven months ago
reported misspending and shoddy bookkeeping by officials, was arrested
Wednesday on charges that he misspent public money on meals and drinks, then
concocted fake documents to justify his expenses.
Joseph Trudden, the former mayor of Farmingdale, pleaded not guilty here in
Nassau County District Court to felony charges of grand larceny, falsifying
business records, defrauding the government and tampering with public records.
His lawyer called him a well-liked public official who kept poor records.
The charges stem from an audit by the state comptroller, Alan G. Hevesi, of
spending by the village between June 1, 2001 and May 31, 2003. The audit was
released last June.
When Mr. Trudden was asked to justify more than $2,000 in meals he had charged
to the village, he gave investigators documents noting the date and business
purpose of each lunch or dinner meeting and the people he had met, Nassau
County prosecutors said. But many of the meetings never took place, they
charged.
Mr. Trudden claimed he been meeting with village trustees, officials from other
villages and civic groups at local restaurants to discuss lawsuits, contracts,
construction projects and parades. James Clarke, an assistant Nassau County
district attorney, said that some people listed as attending the meetings
contradicted the former mayor.
''If it was one or two, that might have been a mistake,'' Mr. Clarke said. ''If
it's a dozen, it's a scheme.''
But Mr. Trudden's lawyer, Joseph Conway, said Mr. Trudden had not tried to
deceive auditors. Mr. Conway said that Mr. Trudden' records were incomplete, so
the former mayor had to rely on memory for about two years' worth of meal
expenses. ''It's unfortunate that in the twilight of his career he has to go
through this,'' Mr. Conway said. The charges against Mr. Trudden represent just
a sliver of the concerns raised by the audit.
According to the audit, several Farmingdale officials spent $14,800 on meals
alone, $23,800 on cellphones and $215,000 on legal fees. Nassau prosecutors
would not say whether Mr. Trudden or other officials would face additional
charges.
Mr. Trudden's arrest follows 12 months of investigations and political furor in
this village of 8,400 on the eastern border of Nassau County.
After a contentious re-election fight, Mr. Trudden was ousted in March by a
slate of reform-minded opponents who criticized him as evasive and secretive.
The day after the election, Mr. Trudden fired the village clerk, John Giordano,
who had supported the slate, for what he called disloyalty. Mr. Giordano was
locked out of his office.
The struggles did not end with the election of the new mayor, George Graf. Mr.
Graf was accused by his opponents of conducting a political purge when he
dismissed a village trustee and a zoning official, and demoted the deputy
mayor. In mid-August, 100 residents attended a village trustees' meeting, where
many of them angrily criticized the moves.
The trustee who was dismissed, Marialyce Denauski, said she will stand by Mr.
Trudden, who was mayor for 12 years and runs a funeral home in the village. Ms.
Denauski said the charges against him were vindictive and malicious.
''He's got standing in the community,'' Ms. Denauski said. ''He's got a
business on Main Street. He's not a criminal. Why can't you just ask him to pay
it back? It's just ridiculous.''
On Wednesday, Mr. Graf said he hoped that the criminal charges would help end
the turmoil. He said the village had addressed the concerns raised in the audit
by canceling its credit cards and reducing its legal, cellphone and meal
expenses. Mr. Graf said the village had trimmed its expenses by $200,000.
''We've been working very hard every day to turn the ship 180 degrees,'' he
said. ''The sooner this can get put behind us, the better.''
- Patrick O'Gilfoil Healy: New York
Times Staff Writer
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