Corbin rejects plea bargain

Nassau County Legislator Roger Corbin rejected a plea agreement offered by the federal government on Sept. 25, which would have limited a jail sentence for the charges he faces, for filing false tax returns and obstruction of justice, to a maximum of 18 months.

Corbin, 62, is accused of evading taxes on $226,000 in income that he allegedly received from a developer involved in the Town of North Hempstead Community Development Agency's $60 million New Cassel Revitalization Project, and for lying to federal officers.

Corbin's lawyer, Thomas Liotti, said that although his client's case should have been resolved civilly months ago, the legislator has decided to stand trial on Oct. 19 and fight the federal charges in U.S. District Court in Central Islip. “I am proud of my client,” Liotti said in a statement. “He is not arrogant [and] he is making a fight against very difficult odds. In the final analysis, no matter what else happens, he will have his self-respect and that of many others. The fight for justice is always worth making."

According to a court affidavit, Corbin reported income of $575,873 on his federal tax returns for 2005 through 2007, when his income for those years was approximately $801,873. He pleaded not guilty in federal court on June 9 to three counts of fraud — for filing false returns for those three years — and one felony count of lying to FBI and IRS agents about the taxes during an interview at his Westbury home last Nov. 20. He was indicted by a federal grand jury on June 2.

If convicted on all charges, Corbin could face up to 11 years in prison and be ordered to pay more than $70,000 in back taxes, plus interest and other penalties, and nearly $1 million in fines, court officials said.

His defense team has repeatedly called the government's treatment of the lawmaker unfair, and Liotti contends that Corbin has been targeted by the government because he is "a public figure representing a minority district." Since May, Liotti has been pushing for a civil disposition of Corbin's case through U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder's office, because, he said, this is a private matter that should be resolved with the filing of amended tax returns and the payment of taxes that may be due.