Fagen: ‘I’m An Innocent Man’

Long Beach City Councilman Michael Fagen, who was arrested and charged with Tuesday morning, said that he is innocent.

“The district attorney is doing a thorough job in investigating the matter and that’s why I was comfortable in surrendering myself,” Fagen said after Tuesday evening's City Council meeting at City Hall. “In the end, I’m confident that the evidence will exonerate me. I’m an innocent man.”

D.A. investigators charged Fagen, 54, with third-degree grand larceny, and if convicted he faces a maximum of seven years in prison.

Fagen said his attorney, Fredrick Brewington of Hempstead, advised him not to speak about the investigation by the Nassau County District Attorney's Office into whether the councilman concealed from the state labor department his employment as an elected city official.

James Lynch, a Walks resident, asked the council if Fagen was going to resign or at least recuse himself from voting on council agenda items during the investigation, and if the city council or corporation counsel will take any action in the case.

“Is there any kind of an ethics board that will be looking into this,” Lynch asked.

“Mr. Lynch, with all due respect, we’re not going to comment on that right now,” Council President Thomas Sofield Jr. said.

“I just think it’s a shame that while someone is under [a criminal] investigation like this, they still [vote], and they should just step aside,” Lynch said.

Fagen reminded Lynch and others that he is innocent until proven guilty. “I’m firmly behind that and I’m confident that I’ll be proven innocent,” he added.

Councilman Len Torres said that he and fellow Long Beach Democrats will not comment on Fagen’s case until an later date.

District Attorney Kathleen Rice said Fagan began receiving $405 per week in unemployment insurance benefits from the New York State Department of Labor on September 12, 2009. In November 2009, Fagen was elected to a four-year term as a city councilman and began receiving an annual salary of $19,828 once he was inaugurated in January 2010.

Rice said Fagen failed to disclose his government employment to the DOL and continued to receive undeserved unemployment benefits totaling $7,108, and that after his inauguration he falsely certified to the DOL every week that he was unemployed.