The Town of Oyster Bay’s former planning commissioner was sentenced to 27 months in prison last week for federal tax evasion after he failed to report $2 million in supplementary income.
Syosset’s Frederick Ippolito, 77, pleaded guilty in Central Islip federal court last January and in the same court last week, Judge Leonard Wexler handed down the sentence, also tacking on three years of supervised release and ordering Ippolito to pay more than $548,000 in restitution.
According to prosecutors, Ippolito received more than $2 million in consulting fees from Carlo Lizza & Sons Paving, Inc., based in Old Bethpage. Prosecutors said Ippolito “willfully failed to report payment on his personal tax returns from 2008 to 2013.”
Robert Capers, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said the ruling reinforces that no one is immune to the law.
“The defendant’s position as an influential official withing a local municipality did not exempt him from paying his fair share of taxes, just like any other citizen,” Capers said. “He now has been held accountable for his actions.”
Ippolito served as the Town of Oyster Bay’s commissioner of Planning and Development from 2009 through January of 2016. As commissioner, he was responsible for the codes, ordinances and rules for building and zoning. He also oversaw the town’s permitting process for construction. In addition, he ran the building division, code compliance bureau, division of administration of board of appeals as well as the planning division.
After pleading guilty in January, Ippolito resigned from his position with the town.
