Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul E. Bonanno, who is handling the
case, stated that the defendant served as the New York State Senator for the
60th Senate District between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2016. In that
position, Panepinto employed a young woman as a staff member in his district
office.
On January 7, 2016, the defendant and the staff member
traveled together to New York City to attend a fundraiser for Panepinto. Following
the event, the staff member took possession of the donations from the
fundraiser. Later that evening, the defendant suggested that he and the staff
member go to her hotel room to count the donations together.
While in the staff member’s hotel room, Panepinto made a
series of unwanted, verbal, and physical sexual advances which were rebuffed by
the staff member. The defendant eventually complied with the staff member’s
request that he leave, although he did return to the staffer member’s hotel
room during the early morning hours in an unsuccessful attempt to get back into
her hotel room. The following morning, Panepinto and the staff member returned
to Buffalo together. However, the two did not discuss the events that took
place the night before.
Upset by what occurred in her hotel room, the staff member
subsequently resigned from her position in Panepinto’s district office.
Following her resignation, the New York State Senate conducted an investigation
into what had occurred, and, as a result of the investigation, referred the
matter to the New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) for
further investigation.
The defendant was concerned that the JCOPE investigation
would jeopardize his 2016 campaign for re-election. As a result, Panepinto
directed a senior staff member to meet with the staff member and offer her
money and/or new employment if she refused to participate in the JCOPE
investigation. It was suggested that the new employment would be political in
nature and funded in whole or in part by an Act of Congress. The meeting took
place on March 7, 2016, at which time the staff member did not accept or refuse
the offer. On March 9, 2016, the senior staff member contacted the staff member
to arrange a follow-up meeting but the staff member did not agree to a
follow-up meeting. Subsequently, on March 15, 2016, Panepinto announced that he
would not be seeking re-election to the New York State Senate.
“While the defendant’s behavior in the hotel room was bad,
his efforts to cover-up that behavior constituted a federal crime,” stated U.S.
Attorney Kennedy. “In behaving as he did, the defendant not only abused the
trust of a young female staffer over whom he held a position of authority, but
he also betrayed the trust of those he was elected to serve. Today’s plea makes clear that this Office
will not allow elected officials who abuse their position for personal gain to
escape justice.”
“Today, Marc Panepinto admitted he directed a senior staff
member to promise a financial payment or new employment to another Panepinto
staffer if she would refuse to participate in a New York State Joint Commission
on Public Ethics investigation,” said Gary Loeffert, Special Agent-in-Charge of
the FBI's Buffalo office. “Panepinto's admitted criminal misconduct -- behavior
that he engaged in while he served in public office -- epitomizes why public
corruption at all levels is the FBI’s top criminal investigative priority.”
The plea is the result of an investigation by the Buffalo
Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special
Agent-in-Charge Gary Loeffert, and the New York State Joint Commission on
Public Ethics, under the direction of Executive Director Seth H. Agata. Sentencing will be scheduled at a later
date.
