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Anthony Saccavino, 61, pleaded guilty in January to running the
scheme while heading the department’s Bureau of Fire Prevention,
which regulates the installation of fire safety and suppression
systems in New York City.
With the help of another chief, Brian Cordasco, Saccavino
solicited and received $190,000 in bribe payments between 2021
and 2023, prosecutors said.
“Chief Saccavino led a pay-to-play bribery scheme that would
offend the sensibilities of every hard-working New Yorker,”
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement.
A retired firefighter who ran an unsanctioned “expediting”
business acted as the intermediary for the more than 30 projects
that benefited from the accelerated reviews.
Saccavino was arrested in September alongside Cordasco, who also
pleaded guilty and was sentenced in March to 20 months in
prison.
Their arrests came days before the criminal indictment of Mayor
Eric Adams on bribery charges that included allegations he sped
up fire safety inspections at the Turkish consulate in exchange
for illegal contributions. Adams has denied wrongdoing.
The case against the mayor, which was later ordered dropped by
the Trump administration, was unrelated to the fire chiefs’
bribery scandal.
On top of his prison term, Saccavino was ordered to pay a
$150,000 fine and to return $57,000 that he personally pocketed
in bribes, prosecutors said.
His attorney did not respond to phone call requesting comment.
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