MONTICELLO – The Village of Liberty DPW chief and two of his workers have resigned after they were charged with defrauding the government and grand larceny.
Police Chief Scott Kinne said Peter Parks, 61, of Liberty, also owns a construction company and used two village DPW employees for his business while they were on village time.
Mayor Ronald Stabak is a retired law enforcement official.
“I was in law enforcement for 35 years so things don’t shock me as much me as annoy me or disappoint me or upset me,” he said.
As a result of the investigation, Chief Assistant Sullivan County District Attorney Meagan Galligan said Parks was charged with felonies of pubic corruptions, corrupting the government, defrauding the government, 11 counts of offering a false instrument for filing and grand larceny as well as two misdemeanor counts of official misconduct.
Michael Houghtaling, 52, of Livingston Manor, was charged with defrauding the government, three counts of offering a false instrument for filing, and grand larceny.
Daniel Curry, 37, of Swan Lake, was charged with defrauding the government, four counts of offering a false instrument for filing, and grand larceny.
The investigation was conducted over a four-month period and while the theft exceeded the $1,000 mark, Kinne would not speculate how much the men ripped off the village in terms of income while working for Parks’ company.
The investigation is continuing.
