Judge recommends plea deal in Fagen case

A Nassau County Criminal Court judge continues to press both City Councilman Mike Fagen and prosecutors to reach a settlement agreement that could include Fagen pleading guilty to a lesser charge in order to avoid a trial.

Fagen pleaded not guilty after he was arrested last year on felony charges that he illegally collected more than $14,000 in unemployment benefits. The charges against Fagen, who was indicted in February, include 38 counts of first-degree offering of a false instrument for filing, one count of third-degree grand larceny and one count of petit larceny. He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.

In July, the Herald reported that a tentative Sept. 10 trial date was scheduled as Justice William Donnino pressed both the sides to reach a settlement.

But at a pretrial conference on Sept. 6, talks with prosecutors fell through, said Fagen’s attorney, Marc Gann. Fagen is due back in court for a pretrial conference on Sept. 12, where a trial date may be set if a settlement is not reached by then.

“The D.A.’s office had some issues and we don’t really have a date now, and we’re still trying to work out a resolution,” Gann said, adding that he’s hopeful a settlement may be reached soon. “Nothing’s been proposed yet, and the judge has been encouraging it. But it requires them to make an offer and up to this point, they haven’t done that. The judge is trying to convince everybody to agree on a misdemeanor plea, a reduced plea, but neither side has done that at this point, and the D.A.’s office hasn’t offered that yet.”

Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice said that Fagen, who maintains his innocence, concealed his employment as an elected city official from the New York State Department of Labor, and that he received $405 per week in unemployment insurance benefits beginning in September 2009. Rice also said that Fagen, who was elected to the council that November, failed to disclose to the Labor Department his work as a salesman for a hotel membership benefits company, and continued to receive “undeserved” unemployment benefits. After his swearing-in in January 2010, he falsely certified to the Labor Department every week that he was unemployed, she said.

Under New York state law, Fagen could be forced to step down if he is convicted of a felony. If he is convicted of a lesser charge, a section of the city’s charter may apply. It states that the governor may remove any elected official if the City Council makes such a request.

Gann — who has said in the past that he believes the charges against Fagen are politically motivated and have been 'blown way out of proportion" — said his client has given no indication that he intends to step down.