Former Asbestos Worker to Plead Guilty
John M. Chick, a former county worker is prepared to plead guilty in U.S. District Court in Syracuse later this month. The alleged illegal removal of asbestos from the Cayuga County Board of Elections was said to be supervised by him the last winter.
"The worker has agreed to plead guilty to one court of conspiracy to violate the federal Clean Air Act", said his lawyer, Paul Carey, of Syracuse, Tuesday evening.
All other charges against him are to be dropped as part of the agreement, Carey added. Recently he has been arrested following allegations he issued a death threat against Anthony Garropy, the whistle-blower.
"It's pretty clear.This will terminate the investigation on Mr. Chick and any and all other charges will be dismissed," Carey said. "We are anxious to inform the court what occurred on the day Mr. Chick was ordered to remove the boiler and the pipes, who were the actual supervisors who advised him to remove those pipes and how they instructed him to dispose of that material."
Chick, due back in court Jan. 24 before U.S. Senior District Judge Frederick Scullin for the change of plea hearing.
"I've got no comment. Whatever Carey says is my comment," he said.
County Legislator Ann Petrus, who has been serving as the county spokeswoman in the asbestos case, said, "Personally, I would say that if John has a good attorney, I'm sure he helped him work through this decision. Regarding who said what, who was at fault, who told who to do what. I think the EPA and the state are still investigating that and that process will continue on and I can't even begin to try to figure that out."
Chick for a while and "I know Chick for a while and deep down in our hearts we always have to be sorry when it happens to another human being," Petrus added.
Carey said the plea agreement does not stipulate any expected penalty for the guilty plea, noting that will be decided by the judge.
Carey said his client's duties during the asbestos removal were that of a carpenter and Chick was placed in a "Catch-22" by his superiors. He had to either follow orders or risk getting fired for insubordination. "Some officials have attempted to use Chick as a 'scapegoat' and he is confident the U.S. attorney's further investigation will bring that all out," Carey added.
"The residents of Cayuga County will be disappointed that the persons that they've authorized to run the county have made some serious mistakes," he said.
The problem started last February when Chick and former county worker Anthony J. Garropy removed a defective boiler from the basement of the county board of elections building on Court Street in Auburn. After two months, Garropy said he and five inmates from the county jail loaded the materials on a truck which were later dumped at the city landfill by him and Chick.
Garropy filed a suit against the county in August, saying he was exposed to asbestos and fired for telling the problem to his supervisors. Now around 30 individuals have notices of claim pending against the county, alleging asbestos exposure.
