Nassau Restaurant Owner Pleads Guilty To Role In Extortion Scheme

HEMPSTEAD, NY — A Hempstead restaurant owner pleaded guilty today to receiving bribes and other charges for his part in soliciting more than $150,000 in bribes from other restaurant owners.

William Mendez, 50, of Elmont, pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree receiving a bribe, two counts of second-degree grand larceny by means of extortion, fourth-degree conspiracy, two counts of second-degree conspiracy and fifth-degree conspiracy. He is expected to be sentenced to 1 1/3 to four years in prison on May 17.

Mendez's co-defendant, former Hempsted Village Trustee Perry Pettus, pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme, as well as other charges against him, and was sentenced to 2 1/3 to seven years in prison on Jan. 14, 2020.

“William Mendez tormented numerous Hispanic-owned businesses with threat of ticket blitzes and closures if they didn’t pay bribes to him and former Village of Hempstead Trustee Perry Pettus,” said Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas. “Small, family-owned businesses are the backbone of our communities and these defendants exploited immigrant owners simply out of personal greed.”

According to Singas, between February and May 2018, Pettus used his position on the Hempstead Villabe Board to solicit more than $50,000 in bribes from Hempstead restaurants by threatening to issue multiple summonses against them. Mendez, who was a restaurant and bar owner in the village, collected the bribes on Pettus's behalf.

In addition, between June 2017 and September 2018, Pettus used Mendez as a go-between to solicit more than $50,000 in bribes from Hispanic-owned restaurants. He threatened the businesses with summonses that would jeopardize their business and liquor licenses, which could put them out of business. They specifically targeted Hispanic-owned businesses.

And Pettus used his position on the board to fix parking tickets for an employee of Mendez. Pettus called then-Lieutentant Paul Johnson of the Hempstead Police Department and described the tickets, Singas said. Johnson then told Pettus that the tickets would be taken care of. Pettus also pressured Sgt. Joseph Savino to take care of tickets for Mendez, Singas said.

The cases against Johnson, Holland, and Savino are still pending.