One of the six Nassau County Traffic and Parking Violations Agency employees that were fired last month for allegedly fixing tickets was arrested Tuesday, according to Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice.
Angela Petty, 41, of Freeport, was charged with 10 counts of tampering with public records, 10 counts of falsifying business records and 10 counts of official misconduct. She faces up to 20 years in prison, if convicted. She pleaded not guilty at her arraignment and is being represented by Legal Aid.
Petty was a clerk in the agency since 2005 who earned $38,952 annually for entering case dispositions into the agency’s computer system after defendants appeared in court. She was fired on August 11.
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Between August 2007 and July 2008, Petty helped her daughter and another relative avoid paying 10 fines by altering records in the system so that the tickets appeared to have been dismissed, the district attorney said. She made it appear that specific judges had formally dismissed the tickets on specific dates, but made sure that the tickets never made it before those judges, Rice said.
“Ms. Petty violated the public trust and abused her position to benefit her family members,” Rice said in a statement. “My office takes these crimes very seriously and we will continue to arrest those who help themselves to the detriment of Nassau County taxpayers. The fact that there exists a line for those with connections and a separate line for those playing by the rules is intolerable and, in my book, it’s criminal.”
The alleged ticket fixing cost the county and the state up to $25,000 in lost revenue on more than 100 tickets, officials said last month when announcing the firings.
Those fired, aside from Petty, include clerks Celia Capozzoli and Roseanna Alveari, Mary Green, a secretary with the agency for more than a decade, Priscilla Jordan, a keyboard operator and Joseph Butindari, an assistant director.
The agency processed more than 300,000 tickets last year and collected almost $28 million in fines. The county received $17.5 million, the state, $8.5 million and the balance, $1.5 million, went to local municipalities. The agency serves more than 800 people a day and another 700 per day over the phone and online.
A criminal investigation into other members of the agency is continuing.
