John Chick, the former Cayuga County worker who pleaded guilty to illegally removing asbestos from a county office building, was fired Friday after a lengthy legal process.

Chick, a county carpenter who has been on paid suspension for most of the past year, pleaded guilty federal court in January 2007 to illegally removing asbestos from the county Board of Elections building in February 2006.

County officials had kept Chick on the payroll, saying civil service rules prohibited them from firing him outright.

The civil service process was apparently completed Friday.

Chick said Friday night that he couldn't discuss his case because he hadn't yet spoken to his attorney or seen any legal paperwork regarding his job status. They (the county) must have heard back from the hearing officer,“ he said. “I went to get my pay stub today and they said, ‘You're terminated.'”

The county last month agreed to pay a $10,000 fine for state Department of Environmental Conservation violations connected with the asbestos removal, and several people #* including county workers, members of the public, and county jail inmates who worked directly with Chick in the asbestos removal #* have filed lawsuits against the county.

Chick has insisted he was simply following orders, and should be given a light sentence. But federal prosecutors said Chick had been deceptive throughout their investigation and they likely will not be charging anyone else in connection with the case.

U.S. District Court Judge Frederick J. Scullin Jr. has set sentencing for 11 a.m. Feb. 20 in Syracuse. The judge set the date following hearing dates in the fall in which attorneys made their cases for what the sentence should be.