Thursday, October 1, 2026
The city said that a career firefighter's position was vacated* this week after a judge ruled on Monday that he was guilty of misdemeanor forgery and identity theft. His attorney said he intends to vigorously appeal the decision amid claims that the charges were “politically motivated.”
Long Beach resident Jay Gusler, 53, a longtime city firefighter who was earning $110,430 per year, was arrested last year after prosecutors said that he defrauded the city by using false information to win a bid for work at the Recreation Center three years ago.
Gusler pleaded not guilty last year to grand larceny and other felony and misdemeanor charges after prosecutors claimed that he “misled” the city to win a bid to install a new boiler at the Rec only to perform shoddy work that cost the city money.
On Monday, Nassau County Court Judge Angelo Delligatti acquitted Gusler of felony charges of third-degree grand larceny, first-degree identity theft, second-degree forgery, first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, and misdemeanor criminal impersonation, but ruled that he was guilty of the two remaining misdemeanor charges, third-degree forgery and third-degree identity theft.
“There were two technical misdemeanors that he was found guilty of — essentially using someone else’s license to submit a bid for a plumbing job — and the court did not find that he did so without the permission of the person whose license it was,” said Gusler’s attorney, Joseph LoPiccolo. “He does plan to file an immediate appeal upon his sentencing as to whether the charges should have moved forward at all and some of the actions during the trial itself — certain evidentiary rulings by the court, certain questioning by the district attorney’s office — and representation made by witnesses who testified for the prosecution. I believe that the witnesses lied about their knowledge of the activities and tried to portray this as some type of scheme that was not supported by the actual evidence.”
