Ex-Leibell Aide Gets 4 Months in Prison, 4 Months House Arrest

It was announced that Raymond Maguire, who was chief of staff to disgraced former state Sen. Vincent Leibell, was sentenced today to four months in federal prison and four months under home confinement.

In September, to one count of obstruction of justice, admitting to obstructing a federal inquiry into work done on Leibell's home in Patterson. Maguire had also served as general contractor for that work, which happened in portions from 2004 to 2009 and cost more than $1.7 million. Maguire admitted to pressuring an unnamed favored contractor, which did work on the house from 2008-09, into falsifying invoices to make it look like the work had been done at its full value. It was performed at a cost of $5,000 but valued at around $50,000.

“Raymond Maguire was a corrupt staffer for a corrupt politician," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a press release. "Elected officials and other public employees who exploit their positions for personal gain violate the public trust and will be held to account for their crimes.”

The unnamed contractor also did work for the Putnam Community Foundation, a senior housing group that was backed by Leibell.

Leibell himself is now serving time in a Pennsylvania federal prison after having pleaded guilty last December to obstruction of justice and tax evasion. He admitted to getting $43,000 in kickbacks from two attorneys, one of whom was subsequently reported to be former Putnam County Attorney Carl Lodes. In a June 2010 meeting with Lodes in Carmel, Leibell was secretly recorded and told him how to stonewall an ongoing federal corruption investigation.