Anthony Mallia led away in handcuffs arrested at his home
Photo: John Meore/The Journal News
“Anthony Mallia, convicted of felony charges as Ramapo building inspector, cannot work for Spring Valley because the work could involve building issues, the Rockland Probation Department said Friday.
Mallia works as Mayor Alan Simon’s assistant at a salary the mayor said “is in excess of $100,000” a year.
“The Rockland County Department of Probation has advised the probationer, Anthony Mallia, that he is not to take the employment with the Village of Spring Valley because it inappropriately involves building issues and that taking the employment would result in a violation of probation being filed,” the agency said in a statement released Friday by the County Executive’s Office to The Journal News/lohud.com.
Violation of probation could lead to a jail or prison sentence on Mallia’s felony counts.
Simon, who took office in December, said he doesn’t agree with the Probation Department’s assessment.
He said Mallia is not involved with the Building Department or inspections.
“I think they are wrong in terms of what he does,” Simon said. “He’s my assistant and that’s not what he does and he’s not involved with the Building Department.”
Look, I think he has to personally resolve this with his probation officer,” Simon said. “My job is to run the village.”
Rockland County Court Judge David Zuckerman spared Mallia jail time when he sentenced him in November on two felony charges that involved undercharging contractors for permits and shortchanged taxpayers by $150,000 in the process.
Mallia had pleaded guilty in August to single counts of first-degree tampering with public records and official misconduct. He remains on five years probation.
A grand jury originally charged Mallia with 188 counts, including dozens of felony counts of both falsifying and tampering with business records. Mallia admitted, under questioning from the prosecutor, that he tampered with records from January 2015 to Feb. 26, 2016.
“If Mallia continues working for Simon, he could face a charge of violating his probation, said John Lyon, a spokesman for County Executive Ed Day.
“This administration will not stand idly by when abuse of power happens,” Day said in a statement. “It will not stand idly by when someone flouts the law. We will use every tool at our disposal to deal with that.”
Read the complete Journal News story here.