Village Official Indicted In Extortion Scheme

Attorney General Spitzer and Rockland County District Attorney Michael Bongiorno today announced the indictment and arrest of a local building department official for extortion, official misconduct and other crimes.

The 20-count indictment by a Rockland County Grand Jury of Howard Hoehmann Jr., 44, a code enforcement officer in the Village of Spring Valley, follows a year-long investigation by the Attorney General's Public Integrity Unit and the District Attorney's office.

"Self-dealing by local officials destroys people's confidence in government," Spitzer said. "My office is committed to working with local authorities to combat this problem and help restore public trust."

District Attorney Bongiorno said: "It was a pleasure to work with the Attorney General's Office in this investigation. My office is committed to cooperating with all law enforcement agencies to serve the people of Rockland County."

Hoehmann is accused of a pattern of illegal conduct including the following:

• Demanding supplies and materials from local businesses as a condition for his approval of building projects;
  
  
• Forcing local businesses to hire contractors with whom Hoehmann had a prior relationship;
  
  
• Punishing those who did not comply with his directives by relentlessly targeting them for building code violations and stop-work orders; and,
  
  
• Duping a local resident into turning over her vehicle to him.

The illegal actions for which Hoehmann is charged date back to at least 1998.

In one instance, Hoehmann pressured a businessman to hire a landscaping firm owned by a relative of Hoehmann and then threatened to withhold the certificate of occupancy until the landscaper was paid. The businessman paid more than $14,000 to the landscaping firm.

In another example, in anticipation of favorable consideration of building permit applications before him, Hoehmann demanded that loads of clean fill be delivered to his home. In another case, he demanded valuable copper pipes and oak beams from a building demolition project.

Hoehmann was arrested and arraigned today in Rockland County Court before Judge Kenneth Resnick on the following charges, among others: One count of Scheme to Defraud in the First Degree (a class "E" felony); one count of Grand Larceny in the Second Degree (a class "C" felony); two counts of attempted Grand Larceny in the Second Degree (a class "D" felony); one count of Grand Larceny in the Fourth Degree (a class "E" felony); one count of Coercion in the First Degree (a class "D" felony); two counts of attempted Coercion in the First Degree (a class "E" felony); and five counts of Official Misconduct (a class "A" misdemeanor).

If convicted of the charges, Hoehmann could face up to 15 years in prison.

For the Attorney General's office, the case is being jointly handled by the Public Integrity Unit, the Criminal Prosecutions Bureau and the Poughkeepsie and Westchester Regional Offices. Assistant Attorneys General Lynn Tabbott and Jeane Strickland Smith and Investigator Cindy Trimble worked on the case under the supervision of Mark Peters, Chief of the Public Integrity Unit.

For the Rockland County District Attorney's office, the case is being handled by Assistant District Attorney William McClarnon.

Attorney General Spitzer and District Attorney Bongiorno acknowledged the assistance of the Spring Valley Police Department in this matter, and particularly thanked Police Officer David Humeston.

The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.