Former state health commissioner experiences “redemption”
Albany County District Attorney David Soares announced today that Dr. Antonia Novello, former state health commissioner, was sentenced to 250 hours of community service at a health-care clinic in Albany, $22,500 in restitution and $5,000 in fines for defrauding the state.
Novello used state driver for personal errands and trips and not claiming the dollar amount of the benefit, as required for all state employees, according to Soares. This took place between Jan. 31, 2004 and Dec. 25, 2006, when she was health commissioner. The information was brought to light through an investigation by state Inspector General Joseph Fisch.
Novello, 64, pleaded guilty in June to one count of first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, a felony. She served under now-former Gov. George Pataki, a Republican, and was U.S. surgeon general in the early 1990s.
A spokeswoman for Soares said Novello has completed 200 of the 250 hours of community service at Koinonia Primary Care in Albany and has paid the $22,500 in restitution. Her lawyer said in court that Novello was going to pay the $5,000 in fines today.
Novello, who lives in Florida, said in court today that she has experienced redemption as a result of her time at the clinic, according to Soares’ office.
“We only hope that her redemption is genuine and long lasting,” Soares said in a statement.
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Net, net: The fine is not paid, she has not completed her community service and she now lives in Florida. And Soares, a bumbling Democratic tool, and an integral part of the Spitzer scandal and coverup, gloats like he’s Pope Leo XIII about the very same type of prosecution he could, (but doesn’t,) undertake for any and every politician in Albany.