No Jail Time For Ticket-Fixing Attorney

SPRING VALLEY, NY — Spring Valley's special prosecutor won't serve jail time for conspiring with Trustee Vilair Fonvil to fix parking tickets and zoning violations. Rockland County District Attorney Thomas P. Zugibe announced Monday that Lawrence Weissman was sentenced to two years of probation on his guilty plea to one count of Official Misconduct, a class "A" Misdemeanor.

"Integrity is the foundation of our justice system," Zugibe said when Weissmann was accused in May. "These allegations only serve to undermine public trust in our courts. No one should be allowed to 'fix' any part of a case, no matter how small the offense."

Weissmann, 56, lives and works in Rockland County. His home is at 31 Apple St. in Sloatsburg, and his attorney's offices are at 2 Crossfield Ave., West Nyack.

He was appointed as Special Prosecutor by the Village of Spring Valley Board of Trustees in 2016. As Special
Prosecutor, his job was to review traffic tickets and zoning violations for the village.

Former trustee Vilair Fonvil proposed Weissman for the position.

Ticket-fixing wasn't Fonvil's only racket. The village trustee, who lives in West Orange, NJ, was found guilty in 2017 of felony charges related to stealing from a village summer camp program for children: receiving a reward for official misconduct; corrupting the government; grand larceny as a crime of public corruption; and money laundering.

Weissmann admitted to submitting false documentation to a village judge in order to justify giving favorable plea dispositions at the behest of Fonvil, who attended plea negotiation sessions, met with individuals facing traffic charges and, on occasion, directed Weissman to dispose of charges.

All Spring Valley Justices had recused themselves from the case. Weismann pled guilty before and was sentenced by the Honorable David M. Ascher, a Town of Clarkstown judge.

The sentence is the culmination of a lengthy investigation by the Public Corruption Task Force, a joint investigative unit for the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office and the FBI. This case was prosecuted by Executive Assistant District Attorney Richard Kennison Moran.

Meanwhile, Fonvil was sentenced to a year in prison for the camp transportation theft. He was sentenced Sept. 10 to one year in Rockland County Jail and 2 years probation. He was released two days later by the Appellate Division pending his appeal of that conviction.

SEE ALSO:

• Spring Valley Trustee Charged in Camp Transportation Scheme
  
• Attorney For Spring Valley 'Fixed' Tickets: Rockland DA
  

PHOTO/ Rockland County DA's Office