Justice Thomas Mercure
Cascino owns Bronx County Recycling (BCR), licensed to handle uncontaminated construction refuse. Petroleum contaminated waste from BCR was allegedly dumped at a site in Columbia County. A Columbia County indictment charged Cascino with operating a solid waste facility without a permit and endangering public health, safety or the environment. An Albany County indictment charged three counts of offering a false instrument for filing, based on alleged failure to disclose BCR’s receipt of contaminated debris in annual reports to New York’s Environmental Conservation Department (ECD). Acquitted on the Columbia County indictment, Cascino sought the Albany County indictment’s dismissal as barred by double jeopardy. That motion’s denial prompted an Article 78 challenge to further action in the Albany County prosecution, which the Third Department dismissed. The refuse’s disposal in Columbia County was distinct from BCR’s receipt of the refuse and its failure to report that receipt or the final disposal site. As the two prosecutions involved separate crimes, Criminal Procedure Law §40.20the statutory prohibition against double jeopardydid not apply.
