Saverio Todaro, a former New York City building safety inspector, was sentenced to five years and three months in federal prison for filing false asbestos inspection reports. Mr. Todaro entered a guilty plea in March to charges of falsifying documents, violating federal environmental regulations, and committing mail fraud. According to prosecutors with the US Attorney’s Office, Mr. Todaro filed hundreds of asbestos inspection reports from 2001 to 2009, but never ordered that the required tests for the city’s older buildings be carried out.
During the sentencing hearing, Judge Kimba Wood also ordered that Mr. Todaro pay over $450,000 in fines and restitution to the victims of his fraud. She said that the sentence “needs to send a message” to other inspectors who may consider taking such shortcuts. She called the inspectors “guardians of the public trust” and described Mr. Todaro’s actions as showing “callousness” that risked lives.
Judge Wood told Mr. Todaro that she would have meted out a much harsher sentence, but that she took the defendant’s poor health and family situation into consideration. Mr. Todaro, 68, suffers from a respiratory disorder and depends on an oxygen tank to breathe. Mr. Todaro also depends on a wheelchair for mobility and has a mentally disabled adult son.
The Todaro case prompted a multi-agency investigation into the city’s process for inspecting older buildings. Both the comprehensiveness and ease of how he carried out these violations uncovered the fact that New York City’s methods of supervision and enforcement of building inspection are under a great deal of stress. The case also brought up inquiries as to how prevalent such unlawful behavior has become among the city's building inspectors, which prompted city officials to install a variety of changes to step up its oversight processes.
However, the most damaging aspects of the case may not be known for several years. “Asbestos-related diseases can take decades to develop,” Anne C. Ryan, an assistant in the office of the United States attorney in Manhattan, told the press.
Researchers have understood that asbestos exposure can lead to mesothelioma, a form of cancer that attacks a band of tissue around the lungs. The fibers become embedded into the mesothelial tissue and change the genetic structure of the cells. Although the disease can stay latent for years, when it does become apparent, patients seldom live more than two years after receiving a diagnosis.
Sources: New York Times, New York Daily News
No comments:
Post a Comment