State Employees Plead Guilty to Killing Time in 'Man Cave'
AG: Loafers got paid to watch T.V. and smoke pot in secret workplace den.
Nov. 12, 2009— -- Two New York state employees accused of converting a storage room in a government-owned garage into a "man cave," where officials said they took naps, watched TV and used drugs while they were supposed be working, pleaded guilty Thursday to fraud and larceny.
From April to July 2009, law enforcement officials claimed, maintenance workers Gary A. Pivoda, 48, and Louis Marciano, 50, used a hidden chamber in an Albany parking garage as a personal rumpus room where they played board games as well as using and selling marijuana and cocaine -- sometimes while earning overtime.
"These state employees shirked their duties to the state while partying on the public dollar. With these guilty pleas, their party is officially over," said N.Y. State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
In July, state investigators uncovered the room, in which they reportedly found couches, board games, a television, DVDs, rolling papers and a drug scale.
The two men would come to work in the late afternoon and smoke marijuana, Cuomo's office claimed at the time. Allegedly, they sometimes used trucks owned by the state's Office of General Services to conduct drug deals around Albany.
As part of their plea deal, neither of the men were prosecuted for drugs charges. A source close to the case said the men were recorded on tape using drugs, but no drugs were found at the scene, making it a hard charge for the state to prove.
In state court Thursday, Pivoda pleaded guilty to the felonies of defrauding the government and grand larceny. Under the terms of his plea deal, Pivoda will serve a year in jail, pay $2,076 in restitution and will be banned for life from working for the state, according to the attorney general's office.
Marciano pleaded guilty to defrauding the government. He is sentenced to five years probation, 250 hours of community service, and will have to pay $1,503 in restitution. He also is banned from state employment.
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