Marine academy carpentry head arrested on bribery charges

Frank DeCarlo, head of the United States Merchant Marine Academy’s carpentry shop, was arrested Thursday and charged with taking bribes from contractors for academy contracts.
DeCarlo, 66, of Franklin Square, allegedly took $47,230 from a contractor between October 2003 and March 2013, according to federal court filings received by Newsday.
Court records for the case were not yet available on the federal courts electronic database, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York said.
According to Newsday, the filings state that DeCarlo also took a $200 bribe from a contractor who was cooperating with federal agents.
Assistant United States Attorney Burton Ryan said in U.S. District Court in Central Islip that at least one contractor had been indicted and was cooperating with prosecutors, Newsday said.
A marine academy spokesperson directed questions to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of the Inspector General. Efforts to reach the Transportation Department were unavailing.
DeCarlo was released on a $50,000 bond and he faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted, Newsday said.
The carpentry shop is a branch of the marine academy’s public works department.
According to Newsday, some of DeCarlo’s duties at the academy are to get quotes from vendors seeking to provide either goods or services to the academy.
Newsday said that the court filings indicated that he was authorized to approve “micro purchases” of no more than $3,000 and that he demanded kickbacks “from a group of favored contractors.”