New York Catering

Former state fair Director Peter Cappuccilli pleads guilty to official misconduct

Geddes, N.Y. -- Former New York State Fair Director Peter Cappuccilli Jr. pleaded guilty today to official misconduct and agreed to pay the state $50,000 restitution but avoided jail in a plea deal that dismissed more serious charges.

In the town of Geddes courtroom, two miles from the fairgrounds where Cappuccilli drew record crowds during his 11-year tenure as director, Cappuccilli stood silently before Geddes Town Justice John Kinsella, entering a plea to the misdemeanor.

Under a plea agreement with state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Cappuccilli was sentenced to a one-year conditional discharge and felony charges of grand larceny and defrauding the government were dismissed. He could have faced a prison term of seven years if convicted of the most serious offenses.

The criminal charges, brought late last year by then-Attorney General Andrew Cuomo , stemmed from allegations that Cappuccilli had used his influence at the fair to make favorable deals to his benefit, including at his two daughters’ weddings at the fairgrounds.

Cuomo, a Democrat who is now governor, had accused Cappuccilli, a Republican, of the two felonies and misdemeanor counts of official misconduct.

Cappuccilli, 60, of Norma Road, Geddes, made small talk with a reporter before his court appearance but said little in court.

"It's difficult to be in this area, to be in the town of Geddes, and not recognize the contributions Peter Cappuccilli has made to the New York State Fair," said his lawyer, Emil Rossi. "I think, safe to say, it was the best fair in the country in those 10 years (Cappuccilli ran it)."

Republican Gov. George Pataki appointed Cappuccilli to direct the state fair from 1995 to 2005. The year before he got the $125,000-a-year job, Cappuccilli had served as Pataki's local campaign coordinator.

As attorney general, Cuomo had charged that Cappuccilli hosted weddings for his two daughters at the state fairgrounds at a discount from the fair's official caterer, "Catering with a Flair." At a 2004 wedding for one daughter, Cappuccilli received a $20,000 discount on catering and shut down another event scheduled for the fair, costing the state $46,000 in potential revenue, Cuomo originally charged. Cuomo also charged that Cappuccilli hosted lavish, open-bar holiday parties for hundreds of people at a discount with the same caterer.

Earlier this summer, the state Department of Agriculture and Markets, which oversees the fair, canceled its contract with Catering with a Flair. The contract was set to expire in 2014. Now, the caterer will be evicted by Nov. 30.

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