Former ISC employees get probation over failed Staten Island track
By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Friday, January 02, 2009
Former International Speedway Corp. employees William Kilgannon and Todd Polakoff have avoided prison time for their roles in an extortion conspiracy in association with the failed attempt to put a race track on New York’s Staten Island.
Polakoff was sentenced to three years probation, while Kilgannon got two years of supervised release, according to court documents. They were sentenced Dec. 12 in U.S. District Court in New York.
Polakoff and Kilgannon were among 62 people indicted in February as part of a wide-ranging, 80-count federal indictment that targeted alleged Mafia members, including three high-ranking members of the Gambino crime family.
Kilgannon and Polakoff were former employees of ISC subsidiary North American Testing Co., which handles design and construction for ISC.
Polakoff worked for NATC between November 2005 and December 2006 as a project manager on the Staten Island development project. Kilgannon worked as director of construction for NATC from May 2005 to December 2006 and was Polakoff's supervisor, according to ISC.
The proposed track site required large quantities of dirt fill, thus requiring trucking contracts that were controlled by the Gambino family, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release issued at the time of the indictment.
Both Polakoff and Kilgannon pleaded guilty to the count accusing them of accepting a $9,000 check from the owner of a trucking company. They already had repaid the money prior to sentencing.
In a sentencing memorandum, Kilgannon’s attorney stated that Polakoff had informed Kilgannon, his supervisor, that he was given a $9,000 check made payable to cash. Kilgannon arranged to have the check cashed, and the person who cashed the check kept half with the other half going to Polakoff.
“Mr. Kilgannon has never been involved in any threat of physical harm to any person and has never had any association with the Gambino or any other organized crime family,” Kilgannon’s sentencing letter stated.
The sentencing letter asked for one year of probation, citing that publicity surrounding his arrest in February “falsely described him as associated with a ‘mob,’ ‘mafia’ and an organized crime family."
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6 responses to "Former ISC employees get probation over failed Staten Island track". Post a Comment.
David Marks said:
Jan 2, 2009 at 2:43 PMAll of this hassle for only 9 grand... well only 4500.00!! The publicity over this must be very embarrassing for these two guys and their families and friends. I only feel bad for their families and friends.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJerry Allison said:
Jan 2, 2009 at 3:55 PMI'm so sick off hearing about all the sleeze bags bribing and trying to muscle and shove thier ideas and ways to handle business,they should have gotten 5 years in Federal prison,our courts are way to easy on these kind of people,if it would have been me or you,we would have gotten time.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportArthur Trim said:
Jan 2, 2009 at 4:34 PMThese "clowns" got caught doing what they were told to do. There should have a been a trail back to the phone & office of Brian France! This deal speaks volumes about just how far NASCAR and the affiliates are willing to go to get what they want!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportGeorgia Ross said:
Jan 2, 2009 at 4:38 PM#3 Arthur--VERY WELL SAID!
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» Confirm Abuse ReportWerner Boehmert said:
Jan 2, 2009 at 4:55 PMNASCAR is very smart...they build, but never pay for anything...it's paid by the fans and taxpayers...and most of it is all legal...
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» Confirm Abuse ReportJoe Kralis said:
Jan 6, 2009 at 10:25 AMMy guess is that this isn't the first time either of these guys have done this. ISC and their soon to be former employers should investigate both of these clowns - I'm almost positive there is more to this story.
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