Former FDNY chief pleads guilty to accepting bribes to speed safety inspections

NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – A former chief of the FDNY Bureau of Fire Prevention pleaded guilty on Tuesday to conspiring to solicit and receive bribes, prosecutors said.

According to court documents, Brian Cordasco, 49, pleaded guilty to repeatedly abusing his position from 2021 to 2023. As chief of the BFP, he participated in a scheme to solicit and receive a total of $190,000 in bribe payments from former FDNY firefighter Henry Santiago, Jr.

In exchange for the bribes, Cordasco used his authority to improperly expedite BFP inspections and plan reviews for Santiago’s clients, personally profiting $57,000 from the scheme.

During the scheme, Cordasco lied to his BFP subordinates to justify improper expediting requests and also lied to law enforcement when questioned about his involvement.

Cordasco, of Staten Island, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to solicit and receive a bribe, which carries a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison.

Under the terms of his plea agreement, he agreed to forfeit $57,000.

“Brian Cordasco abused the public’s trust repeatedly by selling access to the Bureau of Fire Prevention’s services in a pay-to-play bribery scheme,” Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said.

Cordasco was arrested three weeks ago along with another FDNY chief. At the time, both men pleaded not guilty to bribery, corruption and false statements charges.

The arrests came amid multiple federal corruption probes of members of the administration of Mayor Eric Adams , although the prosecution of Cordasco was not believed to be related to those investigations.

Adams, a Democrat, pleaded not guilty two weeks ago to that he accepted about $100,000 of free or deeply discounted international flights, hotel stays, meals and entertainment in return for illegal campaign contributions from a Turkish official and members of the Turkish business community.

On Tuesday, a former New York City official was charged with witness tampering and destroying evidence in connection with the investigation that led to charges against Adams.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.