Former Islip Town Official Sentenced To Community Service For Coercion Charge: DA

A former Town of Islip employee was recently sentenced to 840 hours of community service on coercion charges, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney.

State Supreme Court Justice Fernando Camacho sentenced former public safety commissioner of Islip Town, John Carney to community service in lieu of a six month jail sentence, the DA said.

Carney, 54, of West Islip was found guilty of coercion charges in April.

Carney and Holbrook resident Michael Allen, 41, who served as assistant chief fire marshal, were both accused of bribe receiving, official misconduct and coercion, according to the DA.

In March, the two conducted job interviews for the position of fire marshal and they had to chose from a civil service list of candidates established by the Suffolk County Department of Civil Service, the DA said.

While conducting interviews for the job opening, four applicants were allegedly coerced by Carney and Allen into declining the position and signing declination letters in order to try to get their preferred candidates who finished lower on the civil service list after an exam, the DA said.

The two were arrested in September. Carney retired from the town shortly after due to reported health reasons.

Carney plead not guilty to four counts of third degree bribe receiving, four counts of official misconduct and eight counts of second degree coercion, the DA said.

He was previously acquitted of the the bribe receiving charges as well as the four official misconduct and three of the coercion charges but was found guilty on three charges of coercion.

Last month, Allen plead guilty to a misdemeanor coercion charge as part of a plea deal which allows him to avoid jail time and leave him with no criminal record from this case but would still require him to complete 140 hours of community service at a local church, Newsday reports.

He is due in court for sentencing on September 13.