City councilman charged with grand larceny

Embattled Long Beach City Councilman Michael Fagen pleaded not guilty in County Court on Tuesday after he was arrested and charged with stealing more than $7,000 in unemployment compensation, following an investigation that ignited after city officials claimed that Fagen illegally collected unemployment benefits.

The Nassau County district attorney’s office confirmed the investigation in April, when City Manager Charles Theofan said that Fagen, who maintains his innocence, illegally collected unemployment benefits last year and failed to report his weekly earnings as a city employee.

District Attorney Kathleen Rice said that Fagen, 54, concealed his employment as an elected city official from the New York State Department of Labor. Fagen was arrested by investigators from the D.A.’s office on Tuesday morning, charged with third-degree grand larceny and arraigned in First District Court in Hempstead. He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted.

Fagen’s attorney, Fred Brewington, said that he is confident that his client will ultimately be vindicated. Fagen was released on his own recognizance on Tuesday and is due back in court on July 6.

Rice said that Fagen began receiving $405 per week in unemployment insurance benefits from the Department of Labor in September of 2009. Fagen, a Democrat and one of five City Council members, was elected to a four-year term that November, running on a platform of change and pledging to address what he called the “friends and family” culture permeating City Hall.

After Tuesday night’s City Council meeting, in which he took part, Fagen said he could not comment on the charges but was confident that he would be exonerated.

“The district attorney is doing a thorough job of investigating the matter; that’s why I was comfortable surrendering myself,” he said. “In the end, I’m confident that the evidence will exonerate me. I’m an innocent man and I’m sure that I will be found innocent.”