Area Town Board Member Who Co-Owns Restaurant Admits To Theft Of Services

Michael Barile pleaded guilty to one count of the Class A misdemeanor in the Town of Philipstown Justice Court.

"As Barile admitted in court, as the co-owner of Blu Restaurant, located at 825 South Lake Boulevard in the Town of Carmel, he illegally connected the restaurant’s waste system to the public sewer system without permission or authority to do so, and thereby avoided having to pay for using the sewer system as he would otherwise have been required to do," Putnam County District Attorney Robert V. Tendy said.

Barile had previously been served with multiple notifications of violation and cease-and-desist orders from the Town of Carmel for the unlawful sewer connection, Tendy added. 

Barile entered into an agreement with the town in which he and Blu’s co-owner agreed to pay $105,000 restitution to the Town of Carmel.

Barile received a conditional discharge with the explicit condition that Barile fulfill all the obligations contained in a separate administrative settlement agreement with the town.

“Mr. Barile’s conduct in this case exhibited a complete and utter disregard for his community, and, as he admitted today, his actions were criminal," Tendy said. "It is particularly egregious that as a sitting town board member, he would commit theft and fail to pay for a public utility that law-abiding taxpayers must pay to use."

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