Ex-State Fair director pleads guilty to misdemeanor

Former State Fair director charged with grand larceny
Dec. 20

Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - The State Attorney General has charged a former New York State Fair director with several felonies.

Peter Cappuccilli was arrested on charges of grand larceny, defrauding the government, and official misconduct.

In the official felony complaint, Cappuccilli is accused of using his position as the director of the State Fair for personal gain and for perks.  He held the position from 1995 to 2005.

A news release from the Attorney General's office outlined the following alleged incidents:

• Cappuccilli hosted weddings for two daughters on the grounds of the New York State Fair for substantially less than the fair market value.
• The first wedding took place in 2002. For the wedding, Cappuccilli received an improper discount on catering from “Catering with a Flair” (“the caterer”). The caterer was a Fair licensee that was doing business with the Fair, subject to Cappuccilli’s supervision.
• Cappuccilli held another one of his daughter’s weddings on the fairgrounds in 2004 and wrongfully obtained over $66,000 in benefits. In particular, Cappuccilli directed Fair employees to drain and paint a man-made pond where the wedding festivities were held. Cappuccilli improperly closed fairgrounds facilities to make the wedding more private, depriving the Fair of over $46,000 in concert and rental revenue. Cappuccilli also secured a $20,000 discount from the same caterer he used for the 2002 wedding. He then attempted to conceal his conduct by removing invoices and related records from State Fair files.
• Cappuccilli provided the same caterer with benefits, which included failing to enforce a contract that required the caterer to make $83,000 in renovations to Fair facilities.
• Cappuccilli oversaw lavish, open-bar holiday parties on Fair property for hundreds of people using the same caterer at a significant discount.

After surrendering at the State Police Barracks in Syracuse, Cappuccilli was arraigned in the Geddes Town Court before Town Justice John D. Kinsella and released on his own recognizance.

Cappuccilli is charged with one count of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (a class D felony), one count of Defrauding the Government (a class E felony), and two counts of Official Misconduct (a class A misdemeanor). A class D felony has a maximum sentence of up to seven years in prison.

Albany (WSYR-TV) - The State Attorney General's office announced Tuesday that it has expanded its investigation into accusations of patronage, cronyism, and inappropriate use of tax money among New York State Fair officials.

In early August, the attorney general promised that an investigation would begin after he received a report from the state inspector general targeting former State Fair Director Peter Cappuccilli.

On Monday night, the governor's office asked the office of Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to expand its investigation, into not only Cappuccilli but the State Fair as a whole and its policies and procedures. 
 
Subpoenas have been issued to several companies including:
●  Carolina Hurricanes
●  Catering with a Flair
●  Clear Channel Radio
●  Latorra, Paul and McCann Advertising
●  Progressive Expert Consulting

 Most of these companies had ticketing, marketing, contracting, or hiring contracts with the State Fair.
 
Inspector General Joseph Frisch's initial report charged Cauppuccilli with mismanaging $860,000 in state funds, $78,000 of which were for his own personal use.

Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo says that his office has received the Inspector General's report detailing how former State Fair Director Peter Cappuccilli misappropriated state resources to benefit himself, his family and his friends. It is now up to Cuomo to decide what charges, if any, Cappuccilli will face.

"We just received the case from the Inspector General on the fair, we're in the process of reviewing it now, and within several weeks we'll have an opinion and a decision as to what action our office will be taking," said Cuomo.

Cappuccilli says he's been advised not to discuss the investigation at this point, but says he does plan to defend his reputation publicly at some point.

Syracuse (WSYR-TV) - A state report released Tuesday is blasting former fair director Peter Cappuccilli and handed its findings off for possible criminal charges.

The Inspector General's report says Cappuccilli, who left his post almost five years ago, abused his authority and misappropriated state resources to benefit himself, members of his family, and friends.

When the current fair director Dan O'Hara was appointed by former Democratic Governor Eliot Spitzer, two years after Cappuccilli, a Republican, left the job, O'Hara says his staff noticed what they described as several irregularities. They noticed so many, in fact, that they called on the inspector general's office to investigate.

"I don't think this is a political issue at all I think this is an issue of culture and entitlement and that's what's been changed the last few years," said State Agricultural and Markets Commissioner Patrick Hooker.

The report says Cappuccilli personally benefited by more than $78,000 as a result of his improper actions, and under his watch the State Fair misspent more than $860,000 in public funds. The report also found he misused a state contract with a Syracuse-area advertising firm to produce personal holiday greeting cards for Cappuccilli and his family.

Lastly, the report also showed Cappuccilli misappropriated state resources and received other improper personal benefits when he used fair property as the location for wedding receptions for his daughters in 2002 and 2004.

Cappuccilli issued a statement Tuesday, saying he will respond at the appropriate time. "I want to talk, respond and explain and defend my reputation and character, but I have been advised and assured by counsel that we will have that opportunity at an appropriate time. I ask that everyone reserve judgment until that time."

The report finds some of Cappuccilli's conduct as fair director may violate the New York State penal law, though it's now in the hands of the attorney general to decide what charges Cappuccilli may face.

"I'm really shocked that you could have the allegations that I see in this report occurring at essentially a division director level in an agency," said Hooker.

Cappuccilli issued that brief statement, but he did decline to be interviewed by the inspector general and through his attorney advised that if subpoenaed he would assert his Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination and refuse to answer questions because they could implicate him in criminal wrongdoing.

The inspector general's report also looked at the current administration and found some missteps there, though they are certainly less serious than the allegations against Cappuccilli. The report was particularly critical of current director Dan O'Hara's hiring of concert promoter Live Nation after a nasty split with former booker Joe LaGuardia. Live Nation earned the $600,000 booking contract without a competitive bidding process.

"We hired Live Nation and as the Inspector General notes is was profitable for the Fair so in the end in retrospect are there things we would do differently yes," said O'Hara.

The Inspector General's report also criticizes the current administration for doing the same kind of thing two years later when it failed to get a competitive bid for a promoter to present boxing matches right here during the 2009 Fair.

"What you had and what we were criticized for was a lack of communication," said Hooker.

O'Hara points out that these are two out of thousands of contracts they enter into at the fair. He and Hooker also say a lot has changed since the Cappuccilli days, where non-paid tickets rose to almost $8,000. Last year there were only 1,700 non-paid admissions. Those freebies were among the things Cappuccilli was hit with in the Inspector General's report.

Albany, NY - (AP) - New York's inspector general says the former director of the New York State Fair diverted thousands of dollars for personal use and the organization misspent nearly $1 million under his tenure.

Inspector General Joseph Fisch says the fair gave away thousands of concert tickets to employees and state troopers and that nepotism was rampant.

Fisch says his findings on Peter Cappuccilli, Jr. are being forwarded to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for possible criminal charges. 

Cappuccilli was the State Fair Director from 1995 until he stepped down in 2005.

Fisch's report says Cappuccilli declined to be interviewed and his attorney advised that if subpoenaed he would assert his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.