The man accused of setting fire to a Great Neck medical office on behalf of Sands Point cardiologist Anthony Moschetto was found not guilty by jurors on Tuesday.
James Kalamaras, 42, of Suffolk County, was facing life in prison if convicted on arson, burglary and criminal mischief charges after Moschetto allegedly hired him to set fire to a rival doctor’s office, Heart Diagnostic Imaging in Great Neck.
Jury foreman Joseph Sblendorio told Newsday after the verdict that testimony from two other men involved in the crime, who pleaded guilty and reached cooperation agreements with prosecutors, was not reliable.
“They just didn’t seem credible,” Sblendorio said.
Nassau County prosecutors said they had been investigating a high frequency of Oxycodone prescriptions Moschetto had been writing when they discovered a link between the cardiologist and an unsolved arson plot in Great Neck in February 2015.
James Chmela and Nicholas Baialardo, the two other men accused in the medical office arson, testified in court last week that they assisted Kalamaras in setting fire to Dr. Martin Handler’s office under the direction of Moschetto.
Chmela said last Wednesday he was “too scared” to light the fire himself and instead served as the getaway driver, according to Newsday.
He also said he picked up Kalamaras at a Port Jefferson homeless shelter on Feb. 25, 2015, and they then went to the Great Neck medical office to set fire to the building.
Bailardo said last Tuesday he recruited Kalamaras to set the fire, filled bottles with gasoline and bought a lighter to set fire to Handler’s office at Moschetto’s request, according to Newsday.
“I told him I would find somebody to take care of the task and burn the building down for him,” Baialardo said.
Kalamaras’ attorney, Steven Barnwell, told Newsday after the verdict that jurors probably had problems trusting Chmela and Bailardo’s testimonies given their admission of guilt and cooperation agreements with prosecutors.
“Since much of the evidence came from them, I think the jurors couldn’t put any credibility in them and as such found my client not guilty,” Barnwell said.
Prior to the verdict, county prosecutor Anne Donnelly argued Tuesday that although Chmela and Baialardo were not “altar boys,” criminals work with “people who are on the fringes of society,” according to Newsday.
In November, Moschetto pleaded not guilty following a grand jury’s 77-count indictment against him, including charges of first-degree criminal possession of a weapon, four counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, four counts of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, and second-degree conspiracy. Moschetto is awaiting trial.
Following Moschetto’s arrest in April, investigators discovered a cache of more than 100 guns and various knives, swords, axes and a hand grenade in a secret room in his home that was controlled by a switch-activated bookshelf, prosecutors said.
Nassau County DA Madeline Singas said some of the weapons found by investigators were illegal, but Moschetto did own some legal weapons.
The investigation began following various drug purchases by undercover Nassau County Police and Drug Enforcement Agency officers that were then linked to Moschetto, prosecutors said.
Donnelly has said the Great Neck arson was extinguished quickly and with little to no damage to the building because it was set beneath the building’s sprinkler system.
There were no people in the building at the time of the fire.
