ALBANY, NEW YORK – Kory O’Hara, age 45, the former Town Supervisor of Prattsville, New York, was sentenced today to 1 year of probation, and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and $24,915 in restitution to the State of New York, for committing wire fraud in connection with a grant extended to Prattsville in the wake of Hurricane Irene. 

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman; New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli; Janeen DiGuiseppi, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI); John Pias, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Field Office, Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector (DHS-OIG); and Christina Scaringi, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, Northeast Region (HUD-OIG).

In August 2011, Hurricane Irene caused significant damage to Prattsville, resulting in the issuance of millions of dollars in rehabilitation grants to Prattsville and its residents.  As Town Supervisor, O’Hara entered into various grant agreements, including with the New York State Housing Trust Fund Corporation. 

In pleading guilty, O’Hara admitted that between 2013 and 2015, he obtained false invoices from a Prattsville-based modular home business, Moore’s Homes, purporting to reflect construction work on O’Hara’s automotive garage, O’Hara’s Service Station, which Moore’s Homes did not perform.  O’Hara issued checks to Moore’s Homes reflecting payment on the invoices, but Moore’s Homes returned all of the money. 

O’Hara, who was Town Supervisor at the time, then submitted the false invoices and fully reimbursed checks to Prattsville and the New York State Housing Trust Fund Corporation to fraudulently obtain $24,915 in grant proceeds under the New York Main Street Program. 

This case was investigated by the Office of the New York State Comptroller, Division of Investigation; FBI; DHS-OIG; and HUD-OIG, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyrus P.W. Rieck.