Spring Valley: Desmaret gets 3 years for corruption

WHITE PLAINS – Former Spring Valley Deputy Mayor Joseph Desmaret was sentenced Thursday to three years in federal prison for his part in a corruption scheme involving a proposal to build a village-owned catering hall on Route 45.

Desmaret showed little reaction as he was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas in U.S. District Court in White Plains.

"Everyone who takes the oath of office should understand that when they say 'yes' to a a bribe, there are consequences," Karas said as he announced the sentence.

Karas said he considered the former deputy mayor's previous good works, including his involvement with the community and efforts to help fellow Haitian immigrants, as well as his lack of a criminal record, in determining the sentence.

"This is really serious stuff — just because there were no dead bodies doesn't mean that it's not serious," the judge said. "The public's trust must be upheld."

Desmaret, 57, a computer technician and accountant, had faced a maximum sentence of seven to nine years. He pleaded guilty in January 2014 to mail fraud and Hobbs Act extortion.

"I'll be ashamed for life," he told Karas during the sentencing. "I will be sorry for the rest of my life."

Kenneth Gribetz, his lawyer, told Karas that Desmaret understands that he is "disgraced."

"He is a completely broken man," Gribetz told the judge.

Gribetz and his law partner Deborah Wolikow-Loewenberg had asked Karas to sentence Desmaret to home confiment instead of prison.

The three-year sentence is probably the best Desmaret could have hoped for, Gribetz said after the sentencing. He expects his client to spend two full years in prison and six months in a halfway house, and he hopes Desmaret will get six months off for good behavior.

Desmaret served on the Spring Valley village board from 2003-07 and 2009-13, when he was arrested. He also worked for Ramapo.

Karas noted that Desmaret's boss, former Spring Valley Mayor Noramie Jasmin, and New York City politicians were also involved in the complex plot.

Jasmin was found guilty of corruption in April. She will be sentenced Aug. 7.

Karas will not be sentencing her but noted that her role in the scheme was worse than Desmaret's.

"The scope of her greed is more profound," he said.

Desmaret admitted taking a $10,600 bribe from an FBI operative. The money was taken from Monsey investor Mark Moses Stern, an FBI operative who was peddling a proposal for a catering hall/community center on Route 45 in Spring Valley. The plan involved building a $12 million, three-story building on a 30-foot deep ditch.

Stern went undercover to work off a potential prison sentence for fraud involving a Monsey house mortgage and a $126 million rip-off of Citigroup tied to 11 shopping centers in the South. The Rockland County District Attorney's Office uncovered the fraud and worked with the U.S. Attorney's Office on the case.

Desmaret will surrender to federal custody at noon on Sept. 4. He asked for the delay so that he can spend time with his son, who recently completed medical school in Cuba and is studying for his license to practice medicine in New York.

Twitter: @JaneLernerNY