New York Criminal Defense Attorney Blog
Michael Palmieri, an orthopedic surgeon with offices in New Rochelle and the Bronx, was indicted last week on charges that he assisted a former Sing Sing correctional officer defraud the Workers’ Compensation Board out of $40,000. The charges are 3rd degree grand larceny, which is defined as stealing property with a value of more than $3,000, and Fraudulent practice under the Worker’s Compensation Law. The New York grand larceny charge is a felony with a maximum sentence of up to 7 years in prison.
Palmieri is accused of helping former state correction officer Leo Coletti file false injury claims of over $40,000 to the State Insurance Fund between 2004 and 2006. Specifically, it is alleged that Dr. Palmieri prepared and filed false medical reports which claimed that Coletti was unable to work subsequent to September of 2000, when Coletti became Palmieri’s patient. However, according to prosecutors, Coletti in actuality had a thriving general contracting and home renovation business during this time, and was renovating Palmieri’s office and home while collecting Workers Compensation benefits.
Mr. Coletti pled guilty to grand larceny and tax fraud in 2006, and was sentenced to five years probation and ordered to pay back taxes and reimburse the Workers’ Compensation Board. Prosecutors alleged that Coletti collected more than $110,000 in benefits and compensation while earning close to a million dollars in his home improvement business during the same period. It is unclear why it took three years after Coletti’s guilty plea to charge Dr. Palmieri.
Dr. Palmieri was released without bail and is due back in Court on June 26, 2009.
Contact the White Plains, New York criminal defense lawyers at The Law Office Of Mark A. Siesel online or toll free at (914) 428-7386 for a free consultation with an experienced, knowledgeable attorney if you are charged with a crime in New York.