Community Corner
Jury Convicts Long Beach Councilman on Multiple Felonies
Michael Fagen faces maximum of 4 years in prison.
Long Beach City Councilman Michael Fagen was found guilty on charges that he illegally collected unemployment benefits in 2010 while he was employed by the City of Long Beach as a council member.
After a week of deliberations, the jurors at Nassau County Court in Mineola on Tuesday found Fagen guilty on 18 of 38 counts of first-degree offering a false instrument for filing and one misdemeanor count of petit larceny, said Chris Munzing, a spokesman for the Nassau County District Attorneys Office.
“The jury was unable to reach a verdict on the remaining 20 counts and the jury was unable to reach a verdict on the top count of third-degree grand larceny,” Munzing told Patch.
Fagen, 56, faces a maximum of 4 years in jail. He will be sentenced by Judge Meryl Berkowitz on April 8.
District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in a statement that Fagen began receiving $405 per week in unemployment insurance benefits from the New York State Department of Labor (DOL) in September 2009. In November 2009, Fagen was elected to a four-year term as a Long Beach city councilman, a full-time position, and began receiving a yearly salary of $19,828 upon his inauguration in January 2010, Rice said.
Fagen failed to disclose his government employment to the DOL, as well as his employment as a salesman for a hotel membership benefits company while continuing to receive undeserved unemployment benefits, and after his inauguration he falsely certified that he was unemployed to the DOL, according to Rice.
“Elected officials are expected to put their communities and constituents first, not look for ways to pad their wallets at the expense of those they represent,” Rice stated. “Mr. Fagen violated the trust of Long Beach residents.”
Fagen's term on the council expires in November. According to the City Charter, the governor can remove a council member in Long Beach and the vacancy may be filled by the majority of the council.
Fagen and his attorney Marc Gann were unavailable for comments Tuesday afternoon.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
