2 State Highway Workers Charged In Phony Reports Case
MINEOLA, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Two New York state transportation HELP workers are accused of making phony reports about how many stranded motorists they rescued.
Brian Miller, 55, and Dominick Iannolo, 44, were arrested by Nassau County authorities on Tuesday on charges of official misconduct and falsifying business records, officials said.
They face up to a year in jail if convicted.
The state's acting inspector general and Nassau prosecutors said the pair made numerous entries into official log books for services they claimed to provide to stranded motorists but never did.
"Instead of helping drivers in need, these defendants were cooking the books by reporting work they never did," Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in a statement. "These arrests send a clear message that we expect HELP program employees to help the public, not themselves."
Some of the entries included the license plate numbers of actual motorists who claimed to have never received HELP assistance. Other entries contained license plate numbers that did not exist.
The Highway Emergency Local Patrol (HELP) program has 99 trucks statewide to assist motorists.
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