Frank Sparaco Charged with Falsifying GOP Petitions

Rockland County Legislator Frank Sparaco was charged today with falsifying petitions for the Clarkstown Republican Party, District Attorney Thomas Zugibe announced.

In all, 38 felony counts and 2 misdemeanor counts are filed against him.

The charges are connected to politics in the town GOP.

Some of the party infighting was described by Michael Hull, a longtime Sparaco opponent, before the primary, in opinion pieces on rocklandvoice.com and New City Patch.

Sparaco also works for the Clarkstown town Highway Department.

Here’s the text of the DA’s press release:

Rockland County District Attorney Thomas P. Zugibe today announced that Frank Sparaco (DOB 03/12/76) of 17 Louis Avenue, Valley Cottage, New York has been charged with:

• Nineteen counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a class “E” Felony

• Nineteen counts of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the First Degree, a class “D” Felony

• Two counts count of Misconduct in Relation to Petitions, in violation of New York State Election Law, a class “A” Misdemeanor

“This defendant is accused of tampering with the most basic tenet of the electoral process, the collection of petition information,” said District Attorney Zugibe. “The public must be able to place their trust in the integrity of the system. My office is committed to rooting out all types of election fraud and prosecuting those individuals who criminally violate state and local ethics laws.”

According to the charges, on July 10, 2014, Sparaco allegedly filed with the Rockland County Board of Elections designating petitions for the Town of Clarkstown Republican Party with knowledge that the petitions contained false statements and information regarding the addresses of the individuals he was designating for various positions in the Town of Clarkstown Republican Party.

It is further alleged that the defendant rented or claimed to rent beds in his home to two individuals solely for the purpose of unlawfully enabling them to register or vote in the Town of Clarkstown.

Sparaco’s arrest is the result of an investigation conducted by the Rockland County District Attorney’s Special Investigations Unit.

The defendant was arraigned in the Town of Clarkstown Justice Court on November 10, 2014 and released on his own recognizance.

If convicted, the defendant faces up to seven years in state prison.

Patch file photo