One of two former FDNY chiefs indicted last month in a federal bribery probe that accused the men of exchanging bribes for fast-tracking inspections has pleaded not guilty, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Brian Cordasco pleaded not guilty to conspiring to solicit and receives bribes, Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced.
Cordasco was charged alongside Anthony Saccavino with conspiracy to solicit and receive a bribe, solicitation and receipt of a bribe, honest services wire fraud, conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, and making false statements in the alleged scheme.
Prosecutors alleged the scheme lasted about two years, from 2021 through 2023, and said the two collectively raked in $190,000. They initially each pled not guilty and were released on $250,000 bail.
In his statement Tuesday, Williams said Cordasco admitted to lying to FDNY officials and law enforcement to carry out and cover up his scheme, which earned the former fire chief $57,000.
“Brian Cordasco abused the public’s trust repeatedly by selling access to the Bureau of Fire Prevention’s services in a pay-to-play bribery scheme. Today’s guilty plea should send a message that SDNY is committed to holding our public officials accountable when they resort to corruption," Williams said.
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Cordasco is scheduled to be sentenced in February.
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What were the charges?
Cordasco and Saccavino were accused of using their authority as the top-ranking officials in the FDNY's Bureau of Fire Prevention to fast-track inspections and reviews for cash. The BFP division is tasked with regulating the installation of fire safety and suppression systems in buildings. In most cases, BFP approvals are required for a building to be occupied or open to the public.
Prosecutors claimed Saccavino and Cordasco, having joined the FDNY in 1995 and 2002, respectively, moved into the BFP in 2020, one year before becoming entangled in the alleged bribery scheme. The two were accused of working with a third man, a retired FDNY firefighter who started an "expediting" business to help people and businesses fast-track reviews and inspections.
Saccavino and Cordasco were silent partners in the company, and would receive 30% kickbacks on the inspections they helped bump to the front of the line.
The bribery scheme started in earnest in the summer of 2021, according to federal prosecutors, when BFP backlogs grew frustratingly long due to staffing shortages and pandemic slowdowns. In April 2022, for example, average wait times for a fire alarm system plan review lasted 13-16 weeks.
Despite allegedly offering expedited services to those willing to pay, the chiefs apparently balked at a City Hall list that sought help from the BFP in approving special projects. In an email dated around April 2022, prosecutors said Cordasco wrote that he found prioritizing a major midtown development project on that list "extremely unfair to the applicants who have been waiting at least 8 weeks for their inspection."
Over the course of two years, prosecutors said they found instances of about 30 projects that received a bump from Saccavino and Cordasco's fast-tracking. Their work dried up in early 2023 following a "falling out" with the third co-conspirator, who allegedly did not pay the chiefs outstanding bribe money.
Prosecutors said the FBI interviewed Saccavino and Cordasco in Feb. 2024 about the alleged scheme, and claimed the two chiefs lied about their involvement in the kickback operation.
In their roles as highest ranking officer of the BFP and the second-in-command, Saccavino and Cordasco earned annual salaries of $263,478 and $257,296, according to the federal indictment. The FDNY confirmed both men retired prior to the indictment release.
“Every member of the FDNY takes a sworn oath to conduct themselves honestly and ethically. Anything less will not be tolerated. The Department will fully cooperate with any ongoing investigations. Keeping New Yorkers safe remains our top priority,” Fire Commissioner Robert Tucker said in a statement last month. Tucker said the department will “fully cooperate” with the investigation.
Outside the courthouse in September, neither Saccavino nor Cordasco commented, though attorney Joseph Caldarera called his client, Saccavino, “an American hero,” a 9/11 first responder who had been with the department since 1995. Prosecutors, he said, "got the wrong guy.”
“He vehemently denies all of the allegations against him today,” the lawyer said. “Is this connected to City Hall? Is this connected to Eric Adams? I'm sure that's the next big question. At this time we don't know and we don't have an answer to that question.”
Attorney Frank Rothman, representing Cordasco, told reporters that his client “has been a dedicated firefighter for two decades, serving fearlessly and faithfully," adding that "this is indeed a sad and troubling day, but I'm glad he's on his way home.”
Jake Offenhartz and Larry Neumeister of The Associated Press contributed to this report.
