Pei Pei Cheng-de Castro, an attorney who previously led state ethics investigations into several public officials, has been appointed as the new executive deputy inspector general for legal for the Inspector General's Office of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.

MTA Inspector General Carolyn Pokorny announced the appointment Monday, along with the hiring of Don Kaplan, who will head public affairs.

"We continue to recruit the best and brightest to further serve our riders," Pokorny said. "These new additions to our team will help further our strong commitment to bring transparency, accountability and safety to the nation's largest and most complex transportation system."

Cheng-de Castro was most recently the director of investigations and enforcement at the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, the state panel tasked with investigating ethics violations by public officials, employees, and lobbyists. 

While at JCOPE, Cheng-de Castro oversaw several high-profile investigations, including one into former State Sen. Marc Panepinto, D-Buffalo. Panepinto agreed to pay a $10,000 fine to settle allegations of sexual misconduct involving a legislative staffer.

Panepinto, an attorney, is the husband of Catherine Nugent Panepinto, who serves on the state Supreme Court in the Buffalo area. 

Cheng-de Castro also oversaw an investigation into former Assemblyman Dennis Gabryszak, another Democrat from the Buffalo area accused of sexual misconduct in relation to his staff, and using supplies in his office to unlawfully prepare campaign materials. 

Gabryszak was fined $100,000 by JCOPE over the violations, according to documents. 

Those were two, among many, of the high-profile investigations Cheng-de Castro oversaw at JCOPE. She worked at the commission for about six years. 

Cheng-de Castro was previously a partner at law firm Peluso & Touger in Manhattan for more than a decade. She started her career as a fellow at the Center for New York City Law at New York Law School, where she also earned her law degree. 

Outside her legal profession, Cheng-de Castro also co-founded Central Queens Academy Charter School and teaches at Fordham Law School. She was previously named a Rising Star by the New York Law Journal in 2016.

Kaplan, a longtime reporter, was most recently the deputy communications director for public safety with Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

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