Indicted ex-FDNY fire chief expected to plead guilty in $200K bribery scheme
An allegedly crooked former FDNY fire chief is expected to cop to his part in running a nearly $200,000 bribery scheme — the first plea in the many corruption cases swirling around Mayor Eric Adams’ administration, court records show.
Brian Cordasco will plead guilty to a count of bribery conspiracy at an Oct. 8 hearing in Manhattan federal court, according to a deal outlined in court papers.
“The Government understands based on its discussions with defense counsel that the defendant intends to accept that plea offer,” the papers state.
It comes amid a torrent of federal probes aimed at the highest levels of New York City government, and the unprecedented corruption indictment last week against Adams.
How those investigations may relate to each other, if at all, is still murky – and Cordasco’s lawyer doused any suggestion that the former fire chief’s plea is related to the mayor’s case.
“I can tell you definitively that he is not a cooperator in that case,” Cordasco’s lawyer, Frank Rothman, told The Post Wednesday.
“He is accepting responsibility for his actions and is looking to put this behind him. He is absolutely not cooperating against the mayor.”
Cordasco and Anthony Saccavino — who were previously the two highest-ranking members in the FDNY’s Bureau of Fire Prevention — were accused last month of forming a shady “secret partnership” with a retired firefighter to fast track inspections in exchange for bribes.
The nearly two-year scheme involved dozens of projects across New York City — including fire alarm checks at apartment buildings, restaurants, bars and hotels – and spanned the mayoralties of both Adams and Bill de Blasio, according to the indictment against the pair.
The corruption case flashed into public view in February, when FBI and city investigators raided the two former chiefs’ homes and the Fire Department’s Brooklyn headquarters.
A subsequent indictment against Cordasco and Saccovino was unveiled in September, soon after the feds raided the homes of several top Adams administration officials — and roughly a week before the mayor himself faced criminal charges.
No charges have yet emerged from the raids on top city officials, and Adams has pleaded not guilty.
Cordasco, if he pleads guilty as anticipated, will be the first person wrapped up in the federal probes orbiting the mayor to formally admit wrongdoing.
He faced up to five years behind bars on the charge of conspiracy to solicit and receive a bribe, according to federal guidelines.
Rothman said he hopes the judge gives Cordasco a lenient sentence because of his lifetime of service.
“This is his only transgression in life,” the defense attorney said.
