MINEOLA, N.Y. – Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that a grand jury has indicted Hempstead Village Trustee Perry Pettus on 29 counts related to the defendant’s alleged attempt to fraudulently obtain a mortgage on a North Carolina home and his attempt to secure a debt consolidation loan with forged paperwork.
Perry Pettus, 62, was arraigned today before Acting Supreme Court Justice William O’Brien on charges of Attempted Grand Larceny in the Second Degree (a D felony), six counts of Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument in the Second Degree (a D felony), 12 counts of Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree (an E felony), Attempted Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (an E felony), eight counts of Falsifying Business Records in the Second Degree (an A misdemeanor) and Making a Punishable False Written Statement (an A misdemeanor).
The defendant pleaded not guilty and bail was set at $10,000 bond or $5,000 cash. Pettus is due back in court on October 30. If convicted of the top count, the defendant faces a maximum sentence of 2-1/3 years to seven years in prison.
“The public rightly expects those elected to public office to serve with honesty and integrity, and when politicians commit crimes, as is alleged in this indictment, they compromise the public’s confidence in their government,” DA Singas said. “This indictment charges Hempstead Village Trustee Perry Pettus with providing fake documents to banks to obtain loans for which he was not qualified, and my office will prosecute this case aggressively.”
DA Singas said that the Nassau County District Attorney’s Office initiated an investigation into Perry Pettus – a Trustee for the Village of Hempstead, former deputy mayor of the village and owner of Hempstead Hub Towing – in the beginning of this year after receiving credible information about an alleged bribery and extortion scheme.
According to the indictment, in November 2016, the defendant went to a TD Bank branch in Hempstead to apply for a mortgage loan to purchase a home in North Carolina. Pettus allegedly submitted false pay stubs to increase his income in order to qualify for the loan. The defendant allegedly gave the bank a signed letter, in which he claimed to be an employee of an auto collision business, and submitted four false paystubs purporting to be issued by that same auto collision business that inflated his income by $4,333.00 a month.
Additionally, in February 2017, the defendant also allegedly attempted to steal approximately $35,000 from Web Bank. Pettus allegedly provided a forged W2 income tax form that inflated his annual income nearly $100,000.00, while attempting to obtain a debt consolidation loan.
Perry Pettus was arraigned on separate grand jury charges in July before Acting Supreme Court Justice Patricia Harrington and charged with Bribe Receiving in the Second Degree (a C felony), Grand Larceny in the Second Degree (a C felony), Bribe Receiving in the Third Degree (a D felony), Attempted Grand Larceny in the Second Degree (a D felony), Attempted Grand Larceny in the Third Degree (an E felony), Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree (an E felony), Conspiracy in the Fifth Degree (an A misdemeanor) and six counts of Official Misconduct (an A misdemeanor).
Senior Assistant District Attorneys Lisa Berk and Sarah Nadeau Balducci of DA Singas’ Public Corruption are prosecuting this case. Pettus is represented by Scott Druker, Esq.
The charges are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless found guilty.
###