3 Members Of Family Charged With Overbilling Town Of Islip For Tree Removal
HAUPPAUGE, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Three members of a Long Island family embroiled in an illegal-dumping case were charged Tuesday with bilking the town of Islip for nearly $150,000.
Clara Datre, president of Daytree of Cortland Square, and her two children are accused of overbilling the town $148,000 for 17 days of tree-removal work following Superstorm Sandy, WCBS 880's Sophia Hall reported.
"When the defendants paid, for instance, $20, they were billing the town $40," District Attorney Thomas Spota said.
3 Members Of Family Charged With Overbilling Town Of Islip For Tree Removal
Spota said the trio also did not pay the proper contract wages to 13 employees, shorting them over $100,000.
Clara Datre, Thomas Datre Jr. and Gia Gatien all pleaded not guilty to grand larceny.
The family's attorney, Kevin Kearon, said the charges are "bogus in every respect."
"These charges represent an abusive exercise of prosecutorial discrection," he said.
Thomas Datre Jr. is also among six people who were charged Monday in connection with alleged illegal dumping at several Long Island sites.
The 32-count indictment includes charges of criminal mischief, conspiracy and numerous environmental violations.
The former Islip town parks commissioner, Joseph J. Montuori Jr., and his former executive secretary, Brett A. Robinson, are accused of looking the other way as haulers poisoned park soil. Both were released without bail.
Montuori allegedly told investigators he planned to cover the debris with top soil to hide it from view, CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reported.
Thomas Datre Sr., a prominent builder, was also charged.
All six pleaded not guilty during arraignment on Monday.
Their attorneys said their clients would be vindicated.
Datre Jr., a trucker/hauler and the alleged mastermind, is accused of hauling the demolition debris from New York City — avoiding costly legal disposal — and dumping more than 1,700 truckloads at four Long Island sites, Gusoff reported.
Prosecutors began investigating last spring after investigators discovered about 50,000 tons of debris laced with asbestos, pesticides and other material at Islip-owned Roberto Clemente Park in Brentwood.
Illegal dumping was later found at a housing development for returning military veterans and at two vacant lots in the town.
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