Goshen, N.Y. – Orange County Executive Steven M. Neuhaus released the following statement on Tuesday after Joseph Percoco was convicted of three felony charges in connection with accepting more than $300,000 in payments from companies with business with New York State, including the Competitive Power Ventures (CPV) power plant.

“The State should revoke any and all permits granted to CPV,” Neuhaus said. “You cannot act illegally in the permit approval process and then keep the permits. When the arrests happened, I called upon the State to review all of the permits that were issued. Now that a conviction has been handed down, State officials must do more. They should introduce and pass legislation creating a presumption of invalidity for any project in which criminal conduct by public officials occurred and for which permits were issued.”

Added Neuhaus: “The legislation should be retroactive to the CPV applications. Permits must be based on honest conduct and a jury has now found that this project (CPV) was tainted by dishonesty. People can disagree over many issues related to development. However, criminal conduct must mandate a higher standard of review.”

Percoco was found guilty of two counts of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and one count of solicitation of gratuities in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. He was accused of accepting $315,000 in payments from CPV and Cor Development, businesses that requested Percoco, a former top aide to the Governor, to take state actions that benefited their various projects.

For more information, contact Justin Rodriguez, Assistant to the County Executive for Communications and Media Relations at 845.291.3255 or jrodriguez@orangecountygov.com.

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