Crane operator, company pleads guilty

As expected, Michael Sackaris and his company Nu-Way Crane Service pleaded guilty to charges of bribery, according to the Manhattan district attorney’s office. And a company employee, Michael Pascalli, pleaded guilty to a charge of offering a false instrument for filing, in connection with the bribing of a Department of Buildings official. The arrests stemmed from an investigation following the deaths of nine people at two crane collapse sites, the Azure at 333 East 91st Street and 303 East 51st Street. Sackaris paid James Delayo, the acting chief inspector for cranes and derricks at DOB, to complete and file false paperwork with the agency on about 20 occasions, indicating that Nu-Way had passed city inspections, when in fact the cranes had not been inspected at all, or only in a perfunctory way, the DA’s office said. On six other occasions, the DA’s office said, Sackaris paid Delayoto certify that Nu-Way employees, including Pascalli, seeking crane operator licenses passed their examinations. Delayo pleaded guilty in March on bribery charges. The three defendants will be sentenced July 13. TRD