Cayuga County Legislature Chairman George Fearon said under oath Monday that he did not learn about the illegal removal of asbestos from a county building until June.

Fearon gave testimony as part of the sentencing hearing in federal court for John Chick, a county employee who has pleaded guilty to illegal asbestos removal from the county Board of Elections building in February 2006. Testimony wrapped up Monday, and Judge Frederick Scullin will issue a written decision on sentencing at an unspecified time.

Paul Carey, Chick's attorney, said Fearon's testimony contradicted statements he had made to federal investigators that indicated he had know about the asbestos much earlier. "We brought him hear to tell the truth," Carey said. "I think his testimony speaks for itself. ... It contains quite a few inconsistencies."

Employees at the BOE and the public were not told about the situation until late July.

Ernie DeCaro, the county's buildings superintendent at the time of the removal, also took the stand Monday, but asserted his Fifth Amendment rights to not answer Carey's questions. In a hearing last month, DeCaro had admitted on the stand that he knew Chick was removing asbestos, but DeCaro did not want to be the person to turn him in. At that point, the judge stopped the hearing and advised DeCaro to retain an attorney, which he did for Monday's session.

For more on this story, read Tuesday's edition of The Citizen.