Chick pleads guilty to asbestos charge

SYRACUSE - A prosecutor said a county-employed carpenter's truthfulness over the illegal removal of a cancer-causing material in a county office building will affect the prosecutor's sentencing recommendation.

John Chick, 64, has admitted to illegally removing and ordering another county employee and county jail inmates to help carry out the removal of asbestos material from the Cayuga County Board of Elections building in February.

As expected, Chick pleaded guilty Wednesday in U.S. Northern District Court in Syracuse to a charge that he committed conspiracy to violate the federal Clean Air Act. His plea conditions include cooperating with the prosecution and undertaking restitution to the victims of the Clean Air Act violation.