NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A former New York City Department of Correction officer pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining a significant amount of salary and overtime pay by lying about the hours he worked.
James Internicola, 56, pleaded guilty to federal program fraud and faces a maximum of 10 years imprisonment when sentenced.
According to court documents, from at least July 2021 to January 2023, Internicola fraudulently obtained more than $171,000 in salary and overtime pay by lying about the hours he worked.
During this time, Internicola claimed to work large amounts of overtime nearly every week. License plate reader data, E-ZPass toll records and cell site location information, Internicola frequently showed up to work more than two hours late and left work several hours early.
According to officials, Internicola repeatedly claimed to be at work when he actually never showed up to Rikers Island at all, including when he was at his home on Staten Island, visiting the Jersey Shore or vacationing in Aruba.
In a period of approximately 18 months, Internicola claimed to have worked more than 2,250 hours than he actually did and he fraudulently received the equivalent of more than a year of his base salary.
Internicola resigned from the DOC after his arrest.
"The defendant defrauded the City of New York by falsely claiming to have worked thousands of hours and fraudulently pocketing more than $170,000, when he was actually at home, vacationing in Aruba or elsewhere," United States Attorney Breon Peace said. "The defendant’s greed cost taxpayer’s substantial money and threatens to undermine public confidence in our government institutions."