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John Novello, the former deputy commissioner for the Town of Hempstead Buildings Department, was sentenced on Thursday, Sept. 30, to five years of probation, Acting Nassau County District Attorney Joyce Smith announced.
The 53-year-old Hewlett Harbor man also paid $41,000 in restitution to the Nassau County Republican Committee.
Novello pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree grand larceny on Friday, July 23.
“As public official and political party leader, John Novello was entrusted with serving the people of Hempstead and leading his Republican club, but instead he used donor funds as his personal piggy bank and made a fake company to scam a lender into giving him a million dollar loan,” Smith said.
Between January of 2016 and August of 2019, Novello withdrew more than $20,000 from the Cedarhurst Republican Committee's campaign bank account for his own personal use, Smith said. At the time, he was the executive leader of the committee.
He also stole more than $37,000 in donations that were made to the committee's golf tournament fundraiser and the Mayor's Cup in 2018 and 2019, Smith said.
The DA's Office said Novello spent the stolen money on "home mortgage payments, a trip to a winery, luxury candies, entertainment, gas, restaurants and groceries."
Novello also made false statements between August 2017 and March 2019 on applications for the commercial loans that he used to buy and renovate his home in Hewlett Harbor, Smith said.
He created a limited liability corporation that did not have a legitimate business purpose to obtain loans for more than $1 million from a commercial lender.
The DA's Office said Novello signed affidavits swearing that the property would be used as an investment property, not a home.
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