NY State Senator Admits Dodging Taxes

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. (CN) - Former state Sen. Nicholas Spano faces up to three years in federal prison after pleading guilty to obstructing the IRS to dodge his taxes.

Spano, 58, of Yonkers, pleaded guilty Friday to a one-count information, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. He represented the state 35th District, covering most of Westchester County, from 1987 until 2006.

"In 1993, a White Plains-based insurance company began paying Spano a $1,500 monthly fee to act as an outside consultant," prosecutors said in a statement announcing Spano's plea. "In 1996, after the insurance company was awarded a lucrative contract by OGS [the Office of General Services] to become the broker of record for New York State, the payments increased to $5,000 per month. The payments were subsequently increased to $6,000 per month in 1999 and $8,333.33 (or $100,000 per year) in 2002. The payments stopped in 2008 when the insurance company ceased to be OGS's broker of record.

"The payments from the insurance company were paid through various corporate entities controlled by Spano, including ONAPS, Inc. which later changed its name to HVM Corp. ONAPS had no employees or offices and was used almost exclusively to receive money paid to Spano by the insurance company."

Spano also faces a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain from his crime at his June 11 sentencing.

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