SYRACUSE - Last-minute testimony from a former Cayuga County official suggested John Chick may not stand alone when the dust settles in an asbestos removal scandal.
Former county Buildings and Grounds Superintendent Ernie DeCaro was pulled from the U.S. District Court witness stand Tuesday after admitting he did nothing to stop illegal asbestos removal at the Board of Elections building in 2006.
“I didn't want to be the one that turned him in,” DeCaro said, referring to Chick, who pleaded guilty to violating the federal Clean Air Act in January.
Senior Judge Frederick J. Scullin Jr. later advised DeCaro to retain an attorney and ordered further investigation by federal prosecutors.
DeCaro was one of seven witnesses called by U.S. Assistant Attorney Craig Benedict to establish Chick's responsibility in illegal asbestos removal before his sentencing.
Late filings by the prosecution opened the door for the group of witnesses to testify at Chick's sentencing hearing, Scullin said. A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency investigator, county workers, a work-release jail inmate and his supervising corrections officer testified that Chick ordered and supervised the removal of asbestos-laden pipes and a boiler in the Board of Elections building.
“I told him not to disturb the system that was there,” said DeCaro, Chick's former supervisor.
He said he recognized the illegality of the removal process and alerted county Legislature Chairman George Fearon about the activity. Then, DeCaro said, he left the situation alone.
Chick, who faces up to five years in prison, has maintained that superiors ordered him to remove the pipes and boiler in hopes of receiving a lighter sentence.
“I think this just supports what Mr. Chick has said from the beginning,” defense attorney Paul Carey said afterward. “He (DeCaro) could've, should've stopped the project immediately.”
Carey plans to recall each of the seven witnesses and will consider putting Fearon on the stand when the sentencing hearing continues Oct. 29, he said.
On Tuesday, EPA special agent Michael Dwyer testified Chick's story changed over the course of four interviews while he was conducting his investigation.
While the presence of asbestos was consistent in each version of events, how much and who told Chick to remove it changed, according to Dwyer.
Anthony Garropy, a former maintenance worker who first alerted media about the illegal removal, told of the dangerous and dirty duty workers were instructed to do. Garropy, who also has a civil suit against the county for his termination shortly after the scandal, identified Chick as his supervisor.
County jail correction officer Stanley Westover described white dust “like a heavy snowstorm” in the basement of the Board of Elections building that he observed while supervising work-release inmates who assisted on the project five at a time. He said Chick, a suspended county carpenter, supervised the project.
Staff writer Shane Liebler can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or shane.liebler@lee.net
“I didn't want to be the one that turned him in,” DeCaro said, referring to Chick, who pleaded guilty to violating the federal Clean Air Act in January.
Senior Judge Frederick J. Scullin Jr. later advised DeCaro to retain an attorney and ordered further investigation by federal prosecutors.
DeCaro was one of seven witnesses called by U.S. Assistant Attorney Craig Benedict to establish Chick's responsibility in illegal asbestos removal before his sentencing.
Late filings by the prosecution opened the door for the group of witnesses to testify at Chick's sentencing hearing, Scullin said. A U.S. Environmental Protection Agency investigator, county workers, a work-release jail inmate and his supervising corrections officer testified that Chick ordered and supervised the removal of asbestos-laden pipes and a boiler in the Board of Elections building.
“I told him not to disturb the system that was there,” said DeCaro, Chick's former supervisor.
He said he recognized the illegality of the removal process and alerted county Legislature Chairman George Fearon about the activity. Then, DeCaro said, he left the situation alone.
Chick, who faces up to five years in prison, has maintained that superiors ordered him to remove the pipes and boiler in hopes of receiving a lighter sentence.
“I think this just supports what Mr. Chick has said from the beginning,” defense attorney Paul Carey said afterward. “He (DeCaro) could've, should've stopped the project immediately.”
Carey plans to recall each of the seven witnesses and will consider putting Fearon on the stand when the sentencing hearing continues Oct. 29, he said.
On Tuesday, EPA special agent Michael Dwyer testified Chick's story changed over the course of four interviews while he was conducting his investigation.
While the presence of asbestos was consistent in each version of events, how much and who told Chick to remove it changed, according to Dwyer.
Anthony Garropy, a former maintenance worker who first alerted media about the illegal removal, told of the dangerous and dirty duty workers were instructed to do. Garropy, who also has a civil suit against the county for his termination shortly after the scandal, identified Chick as his supervisor.
County jail correction officer Stanley Westover described white dust “like a heavy snowstorm” in the basement of the Board of Elections building that he observed while supervising work-release inmates who assisted on the project five at a time. He said Chick, a suspended county carpenter, supervised the project.
Staff writer Shane Liebler can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 248 or shane.liebler@lee.net
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