State Employees Plead Guilty to Killing Time in 'Man Cave'

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.

"The flagrant abuses committed by these state employees were an affront to all taxpayers. Now they are paying the price," said state Inspector General Joseph Fisch.

According to reports citing records from the state comptroller's office, Pivoda, a state employee for nine years, earned $29,600 annually and more than $4,700 in overtime in the past five years.

Marciano, who worked as Pivoda's manager, has been a state employee for 31 years and earned a salary of $37,470. He earned an additional $23,738 in overtime since July 2004, according to state reports.

"It's abundantly clear that the state of New York is being pennywise and pound foolish. They took care of $3,000 but have lost billions of dollars by not going after real problems," said Marciano's lawyer, Lee Kindlon.

"The indictment was really just a show of support from the attorney general for the inspector general," he said.

Pivoda's lawyer, David Gruenberg, did not return calls from ABCNews.com.