Former crane inspector, firm indicted

The former acting chief inspector for cranes and derricks for the city’s Department of Buildings, along with two other men and a Long Island crane company were indicted on bribery-related charges, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said today.

Prosecutors said inspector James Delayo, 60, allegedly admitted to accepting more than $10,000 in bribes from Michael Sackaris, 48, the de facto owner of Nu-Way Crane Service, in a scheme to certify cranes without conducting mandatory inspections and grant crane operator licenses to unqualified applicants.

Delayo is charged with one count of receiving a bribe, and along with Sackaris and Nu-Way Crane Service, was charged with 37 counts each of tampering with public records, offering a false instrument for filing, and falsifying business records, the DA’s office said. The count of receiving a bribe carries a sentence of up to 15 years.

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Sackaris, crane operator applicant Michael Pascalli, 24,  and the crane company were charged with bribery, and Sackaris and Pascalli faced other charges, as well, the district attorney’s office said.

Delayo
was arrested June 6, a week after a crane collapsed at 333 East 91st Street and Sakaris and Pascalli were arrested today, the DA’s office said.

The men plead not guilty, the Associated Press reported.