Former crane inspector expected to plead guilty to kickbacks scheme today

The city’s former chief crane inspector is expected to plead guilty to accepting thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for filing fake inspection reports, according to the Daily News. James Delayo, who will appear in Manhattan Supreme Court today, was arrested in 2008 after two crane collapses killed nine people within two months. Delayo had been the assistant chief inspector with the Department of Buildings and dealt with smaller cranes — not the ones involved in the fatal collapses. Over eight years, he allegedly took $10,000 in bribes for reporting inspections he had not actually performed and handed out crane operators licenses for a fee to those who had not taken the test. Michael Sackaris, owner of Nu-Way Crane and his employee, Michael Pascalli, were also charged with bribery and tampering with public records in the scheme and are still in plea negotiations, sources told the Daily News. [NYDN]

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