Leibell Blames Ball

A map of Wonder Lake State park, showing its hiking trails. The Leibell property borders the park. Courtesy New York-New Jersey Trail Conferenc e It has been revealed that documents requested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation from the Town of Patterson last week were related to the home of State Senator Vincent Leibell located on Cushman Road in Patterson.

Last Thursday, the Courier was first to report that the FBI had requested the thenmysterious documents from the Patterson Town Hall.

Leibell suggested to the Courier Tuesday that Assemblyman Greg Ball instigated the FBI inquiry. Ball is currently seeking the 40th state senate seat being vacated by Leibell, who is running for county executive against fellow Republican Mary Ellen Odell.

Ball and Leibell have each questioned each other’s state of mind: “In terms of Greg Ball, he’s had a pattern; anytime he doesn’t like somebody he calls the FBI,” Leibell told the Courier. “I think it’s a bizarre way to approach politics.”

In response to those accusations, Ball told the Courier, “any insinuation that I have control over the FBI borders on insanity.”

The Leibell property on Cushman Road formerly belonged to the Montgomery family, which included the late actress Elizabeth Montgomery. After the death of her mother, Elizabeth Allen Montgomery, Leibell’s law firm, Curtis, Shilling & Leibell, was employed by the estate to attend to final legal matters.

Leibell bought a portion of the property after the settlement of the Montgomery estate. The rest of the land became Wonder Lake State Park, which, from its founding in 1998 until 2006, had no discernible public access points. Critics have consequently called Wonder Lake a personal park for the senator, but Lebeill said that it is well-used and that hikers even come to his back door seeking directions. There is now an entrance to the park, including a parking lot, off of Ludingtonville Road.

Leibell told the Courier that he and his family have owned the property for 16 years, and that they built the large house, with an added in-law wing, so his wife’s elderly parents could live with Leibell, his wife, and his children. He said expansion at his previous residence, on Tammany Hall Road, was impossible, as it was surrounded by protected wetlands.

While asserting that discussing his home “is a very private thing,” Leibell said that as a public official he was willing to provide “this personal information.”

According to Leibell, his political opponents immediately went on the attack when he built his Cushman Road home, claiming, for example, that he had built a multi-family unit in a single-family zone, which Leibell said is not true.

On January 24, 2005, the Journal News ran a story about the senator’s “new country home,” and included a picture of it on the front page.

The FBI has made no public statement of the purpose of its investigation, but Ball suggested that there have been “shady real estate deals.”

“The investigation and these shady real estate deals, the funneling of millions of dollars of state funds for private gain, were taking place while I was in high school or in the Air Force,” Ball said.

“It sounds like the FBI is taking extremely seriously the alleged misuse of public dollars for the private benefit of corrupt insiders who have reigned with impunity,” he added.

When asked whether he thought Ball had the pull to instigate an FBI investigation, Leibell said, “I think [if] you do it enough times; he has called the FBI and FBI has responded.”

The subpoena in Patterson comes just weeks after subpoenas of the county government as part of a federal grand jury investigation. As was first reported in the June 3 Courier, according to two anonymous sources close to the matter, a U.S. attorney had requested, and received, unredacted copies of invoices and vouchers “associated with Santangelo, Randazzo & Mangone as a [law] firm and as sole practitioners.”

The Mangone in question is Anthony Mangone, who, according to the FBI, was arrested January 6, 2010, on charges of “conspiracy, bribery, and extortion in connection with two real estate development projects within the City of Yonkers.” Mangone previously served the Town of Patterson as special counsel for Patterson Crossing, the proposed shopping center that has caused years of concern for many of Patterson and Kent’s citizens (For the latest on Patterson Crossing, see “County Will Not Reimburse Paul Camarda,” page 1.)

According to the two anonymous sources mentioned in the June 3 Courier, Carl Lodes, Putnam’s former county attorney, was also associated with the subpoenaed invoices. Lodes had previously served as executive director of and counsel to the Hudson Valley Trust, with which Leibell is connected (the state senator is widely considered the founder of the Hudson Valley Trust and another Putnam nonprofit, the Putnam Community Foundation).

In early June, Vincent Tamagna, chairman of the Putnam County Legislature, told the Courier that Putnam County had been subpoenaed to “produce certain specified records to the Grand Jury for the Southern District of New York” that included invoices and “how the county procured outside legal services.”

Additionally, there have been reports that the Carmel Town Hall was served with subpoenas in recent weeks. It is not known whether these three incidents are connected.

When asked whether he thought the other recent FBI inquiries were related to each other— and whether Ball had instigated those other investigations, Leibell said he did not know.

In a statement issued Friday, Odell, Leibell’s opponent in the county executive race, said, “I know that corruption and greed has found a home in all levels of government in New York State. We have all been made aware through similar FBI investigations, that there has been criminal activity regarding the misuse of public funds and taxpayer dollars to oftentimes fund private foundations and trusts by several Albany officials.”

“Ethics, morality, common sense, and decency no longer have the majority in Albany,” Odell continued. “They have been replaced by corruption, greed, and self preservation. If we do not demand to be heard, Albany will not listen. If we continue to behave like sheep we will continue to be fleeced.”

But in discussing the FBI inquiry with the Courier, Leibell seemed quite open and unconcerned. History shows that the FBI has investigated Putnam County politics in the past without filing charges and, regarding the property on Cushman Road, the FBI has simply requested documents and has not announced any charges.

“I have received criticism from people who do nothing but pick up paychecks,” Leibell said.

Calling himself a Jack Kemp Republican, Leibell said he has not just brought pork to Putnam. He spoke about how he has tried to build a community of “bricks and mortar” in Putnam, one of which its citizens can be proud, he said.

The Courier will continue to offer comprehensive coverage of the upcoming elections and the FBI investigations.