WHOA..What Is This? Ticket-fixing charade in court is costly for ex-judge
Ticket-fixing charade in court is costly for ex-judge
Both legal jobs lost in misconduct case
Louis P. Violanti had a cop pretend to be a motorist in court, leading to loss of his judgeship, city lawyer role.
Louis P. Violanti had a cop pretend to be a motorist in court, leading to loss of his judgeship, city lawyer role. Charles Lewis/News file photo
By Jay Tokasz | News Staff Reporter , Patrick Lakamp | News Staff Reporter | @LakampBuffNews
on June 5, 2013 - 9:10 PM
, updated June 6, 2013 at 8:19 AM
Louis P. Violanti was a Lackawanna City Court judge earlier this year when he orchestrated a courtroom charade to dismiss a ticket on behalf of a friend.
Violanti instructed a Lackawanna police officer to act as the ticketed motorist and ask for the dismissal.
What happened in the roughly 2 minutes of that sham hearing eventually would cost Violanti his judgeship.
“I was going to reappoint him,” Mayor Geoffrey M. Szymanski said. “Then, everything came down, and he had to resign.”
But the criminal breach of court conduct did not get in the way of Violanti’s appointment to another city job – as assistant city attorney with a $43,800 annual salary.
The job opened up when the mayor named his father-in-law, Norman A. LeBlanc Jr., who had been city attorney, to the judgeship that Violanti left.
Antonio M. Savaglio, who had been assistant city attorney, was promoted to city attorney.
That is often how hiring happens in Lackawanna for the politically connected.
Violanti’s new job lasted two months. After separate state and county investigations, he was criminally charged with official misconduct for fixing the traffic ticket.
He was forced to quit the assistant city attorney job, as a condition of a plea deal negotiated with the Erie County District Attorney’s Office, said District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III.
The case of official misconduct against Violanti, 40, was adjourned in contemplation of dismissal, a plea deal that means the charge will be dismissed if he stays out of trouble for a short time.
Violanti appeared May 3 in Buffalo City Court, where his case was moved to avoid any conflicts of interest in Lackawanna.
Szymanski confirmed Wednesday that Violanti has submitted his resignation letter. Violanti did not respond to a request to comment.
The mayor, who told The Buffalo News in March that Violanti wanted to step away from the judicial position in order to do more private legal work, acknowledged Wednesday that he knew about the sham proceeding that prompted Violanti to step down as judge.
Szymanski defended hiring him as the city’s assistant attorney, even though under normal circumstances Violanti would have been expected to prosecute cases in the same City Court where he had held the sham hearing Jan. 15.
“Lou was doing mostly just research,” Szymanski said. “He was not going in front of any judges.” Tony Savaglio was handling that, he said.
The mayor said Lackawanna has a small number of lawyers qualified for the job, which must go to a city resident.
“It was one incident,” Szymanski said. “Do I think this has ever happened before? No. It’s unfortunate.”
Violanti often serves as emcee at community events sponsored by the city, churches and nonprofit groups.
“He’s really popular. He’s always funny,” Szymanski said. “Everyone loves Lou.”
Violanti broke the law by the way he dismissed an expired-registration ticket given to Daniel E. Endress, of Hamburg, Sedita said.
“You just can’t fix tickets anymore,” Sedita said.
“It doesn’t work like that anymore. If you do it, you’re subject to criminal prosecution.”
Chief City Judge Frederic J. Marrano was supposed to handle the misdemeanor expired-registration charge against Endress. But Violanti arranged to preside over the case.
John S. Hruby, the Lackawanna police officer assigned to the courtroom, said he was following Violanti’s instructions when he pretended to be the defendant and handed paperwork to the judge during the court session.
Hruby could not be reached to comment, but he described to Sedita’s investigators what occurred.
“It was a stupid thing I did,” Hruby told the investigators, according to a transcript of his interview. “For 18 years I’ve been trained to follow orders. I basically did what I thought the judge told me to do.”
Did Violanti instruct him to pose as the defendant in open court?
“Yes,” Hruby told the investigators. “I went on the record, and said I was this Daniel. He told me to do that. I don’t know if it was a trial or what, but I pretended to be the person, and I handed up the proof.”
Hruby faces a possible 60-day unpaid suspension from the Lackawanna Police Department for his role in the sham proceeding, Szymanski said.
Endress’ Dec. 7 ticket likely would have been dismissed, if the case had been handled properly. At worst, it would have been downgraded to a parking ticket, Sedita said.
Endress’ registration was suspended because of a reported lapse in insurance. But his insurance did not actually lapse, Sedita said. A state Department of Motor Vehicles paperwork mix-up apparently led to the suspension, he said.
If Endress had explained the mix-up or showed a good-faith effort to fix the problem, Sedita said, the prosecutor likely would have dismissed the case.
Violanti was “essentially trying to fix a ticket that, ironically, never needed to be fixed,” Sedita said.
A clerk in the court, who was not present when Violanti dismissed the case, noticed a glitch in the paperwork. The clerk was surprised that the case was called because it was scheduled to be heard by Marrano at a later date.
The Office of the Inspector General for the state court system began investigating Jan. 24, Sedita said.
The sham started when Endress encountered Violanti at church after being ticketed and mentioned his upcoming court appearance to the judge, according to his statement to an investigator.
“Give me the ticket. I’ll take care of it for you,” Violanti told him, according to Endress’ statement.
The bogus hearing was recorded, so investigators could listen to what Violanti and Hruby said.
“Are you Mr. Endress?” Violanti asked Hruby.
Yes, Hruby answered.
“You came in today for what, sir?” Violanti asked.
Hruby, pretending to be Endress, said he had paperwork proving he had insurance.
“Let me see what you have,” Violanti said.
Hruby apparently handed over the paperwork.
“OK, thank you,” Violanti said. “What I don’t understand is why you’re here now?”
Hruby mentioned the high cost of the ticket.
Violanti then said he anticipated that the District Attorney’s Office would dismiss the ticket.
“I don’t think I’m out of bounds by dismissing this case in the interest of justice,” Violanti said.
Once investigators started asking questions, Violanti told both Endress and Hruby to explain what happened.
Sedita explained why he agreed to adjourning is case in contemplation of dismissal.“It’s his first offense,” Sedita said. “The investigations by the Office of Court Administration and my office indicated it was an isolated incident. There was no pattern of corruption or ticket fixing. It was a non-violent misdemeanor-level offense. As a condition of the plea, I made him resign from his public position. Nobody benefited from the offense.”Also, once investigators started asking questions about what happened, Violanti told both Endress and Hruby to tell the truth.“To his credit, he told them to tell the truth,” Sedita said.
In the past, ticket fixing might have been swept under the rug, but not so anymore, Sedita said.“We don’t sweep things under the rug,” he said.
email: plakamp@buffnews.com and jtokasz@buffnews.com
And This.......??????!!!!!???????
28 Comments:
repomania • 4 hours ago
He should have been fired for wearing that wig!
12 △ ▽
Avatar
Steve > repomania • 4 hours ago
Who do those who wear toupees think they are fooling? They look terrible.
4 △ ▽
Avatar
repomania > Steve • 4 hours ago
Themselves?
4 △ ▽
Avatar
Cindy > repomania • an hour ago
Nice one! Why don't you grow up and realize people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
△ ▽
Avatar
Bud Tugley > repomania • 2 hours ago −
It's either Hair Club for Men $99 special, or a Dr. Pignataro snap-on.
3 △ ▽
Avatar
Bryan Domenico > repomania • 24 minutes ago
Even Ed Kilgore's toupe looks better than that thing.
△ ▽
Avatar
Michael Towers • 2 hours ago
Lackawanna is a cesspool.
3 △ ▽
Avatar
AGM1 • 10 hours ago
Next week he'll have his license at the firm of Doowee Chest'em and Howe...
What on-line law school did this guy graduate from? Where's the suspension, What's the Bar Association's stance on this? Where's the ethics?
3 △ ▽
Avatar
Marvin M. > AGM1 • 6 hours ago
There is no ethics in Lackawanna. It's been the same story there for decades. Family and friends run or try to run that city, thus its continuing trend toward a ghost town.....Don't believe it? Look up the names of all the politicians and their friends since the sixties, there will be a connection.....................
8 △ ▽
Avatar
Luigi Parsoni > AGM1 • 6 hours ago
I hate to correct you AGM1 but Dewey Cheatem and Howe is an accounting firm. He will probably work for the law firm of Kwit, Bichin, and Setl.
8 △ ▽
Avatar
Walmartyr > AGM1 • 2 hours ago
This type of chicanery is widespread in courts throughout Western New York. The entire legal community is based on the old-boy network. You get appointed, promoted and elected solely based on who you know, and who you've contributed to.
Much of it is small-scale, and involves minor payoffs, but either way, it's a perversion of justice.
4 △ ▽
Avatar
john cappelletti > AGM1 • 5 hours ago
Bra Association? You gotta be kidding. They cover up worse crimes.This dude pulls a sham and gets coverage by The News like he murdered someone.. We have been begging The News editor, and others, for years to expose a fraud committed on the courts by attorneys from two prestigious buffalo law firms who committed perjury, filed false documents, swore under oath that we cashed a $121,903.96 check three times, twice in the Supreme court and again in the Appellate court. Doing this while they had possession of the un-cashed check and still has today. To top that, one attorney forged three Proofs of Loss, and another attorney who was involved stated to a judge that there was "malpractice" in the case, then he became Chairman of the Bar Association, they covering up the matter. All this proven beyond a doubt by court records, documents, and testimony of forensic handwriting expert. Due process and Justice for all, except in New York State. for over 20 years we
still waiting for promised trial, "a trier of facr", as is stated in the Appellate Court Decision. No one will touch this case with a ten foot pole, especially
the Cuomo's, both father and son as Governors or Attorney Generals, including Spitzer.
4 △ ▽
Avatar
Cindy > john cappelletti • 44 minutes ago
Exactly it's happening every where.Don't tell me that every person commenting on here has not called in a favor or has tried.So where are your standards or morals!!!!!!!!!!!
1 △ ▽
Avatar
Steve > john cappelletti • an hour ago
I'm enjoying watching my parents being looted by lawyers during their ongoing divorce of two years. All the lawyers are doing is wasting time until they eat up their assets, mostly the money from the house that was sold. I told them both to file complaints, knowing the complaint will end up going to place other corrupt lawyers "handle" these sorts of things.
1 △ ▽
Avatar
Bud Tugley > john cappelletti • 2 hours ago
Try Artvoice, the best investigative journalism in Buffalo. They aren't beholden to millionaire corporate masters or Buffalo politicians.
1 △ ▽
Avatar
john cappelletti > Bud Tugley • an hour ago
thanks Bud. yours is the only positive answer we have gotten from the hundreds, upon hundreds, of letters we have written to attorneys, judges, editors, state and federal offices, legal aid organizations, you name it, we wrote to them. I'll drop Artvoice a line
△ ▽
Avatar
Windafriendship > john cappelletti • 30 minutes ago
Our family learned a lesson about the NYS legal system years ago when we received a bill from an attorney we NEVER hired. All I did was testify in favor for the client, who had hired the attorney at her brother-in-laws law firm. We were shocked to receive half of her bill. She hung the phone up when we questioned her about the bill, as we had nothing to do with this attorney. We took the bill to the Buffalo court, and the judge asked my husband and me, "What plant do you live on?" He then DOUBLED the fee to the attorney, and locked all of our banks accounts, until it was paid. Evil is out there. Our family prays to the one God, and hopes Good will one day triumph over Evil. No different than a terrorist, are people that prey on others.
△ ▽
Avatar
Pat Liddle > AGM1 • 5 hours ago
Attorney discipline cases move at a glacial pace. It'll happen eventually.
2 △ ▽
Avatar
A Responsible Adult • 2 hours ago
A clueless, mop-headed clown! Typical for his kind........
2 △ ▽
Avatar
A Responsible Adult • 2 hours ago
Just another self-centered scumbag of the "I"talian persuasion who used his family "connections" to get a job where he could wield his power to help his fellow goombas.
2 △ ▽
Avatar
Hambone > A Responsible Adult • 15 minutes ago
A 'Responsible Adult' with an 'Irresponsible comment'. What is your persuasion, so we all know what the perfect persuasion is? How about this, it's a story of a jerk who abused his power, end of story. Please do us all a favor, if you are indeed, a 'responsible adult' - don't pass your judgmental prejudices to any offspring, if you possess them. Thank you.
△ ▽
Avatar
Veritas vos Liberabit • 28 minutes ago
The judge's expression reminds me of that of José Canseco when he was exposed to juicing up..."¿HUH?"
1 △ ▽
Very sad...........for ALL of us......
I truly am saddened for him and his family........
And don't understand really why this all happened the way it did....................?!?
