Two Former Dearborn Building & Safety Employees Charged
Nearly a year ago, Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr., announced a plan to reorganize and clean up the city’s troubled Building and Safety Department. On Wednesday, the city announced that a former supervisor and deputy director from Building and Safety were suspended without pay following arraignment on charges of fraudulent property sales.
This brings to four the number of former Building and Safety department employees to face criminal charges, the result of a more than two-year police and FBI investigation of the department initiated by the mayor.
With these latest charges, it appears Dearborn is closing its investigation into the Building and Safety department. In a statement issued Wednesday, Dearborn officials said “no other city employees are expected to face criminal charges stemming from the investigation of the former department.”
Andrew Pizzino and Robert Deberardino, both of Dearborn, are the latest to face criminal charges. Both were arraigned before 19th District Judge Mark Somers. Pizzino is charged with four misdemeanor counts: two counts of fraud and two counts of ethics violations of the City of Dearborn Charter.
The charges, according to Dearborn officials, stem from a Dearborn house Pizzino purchased allegedly under fraudulent circumstances on Beech in 2004 and resold for a profit in 2005; and for a Dearborn house on Chestnut he purchased allegedly under fraudulent circumstances in 2002 and resold for a profit in 2003.
At the time of the transactions, he was a supervisor in the Building and Safety Department. He was reassigned to the Residential Services Department after a restructuring in 2009.
Deberardino was charged with two misdemeanor counts of aiding and abetting Pizzino in the alleged fraudulent property transactions in 2003 and 2005.
Deberardino was the deputy director of the Building and Safety Department at the time of the transactions. He had been reassigned to the Economic and Community Development Department following a restructuring in 2009.
Each misdemeanor fraud charge carries a maximum penalty of $500 and 93 days in jail. Each ethics violations carry a maximum penalty of $500 and 90 days in jail.
The two other Building and Safety Department employees are facing bribery charges. For that earlier story, click HERE
As we have said before, the issues in the Building and Safety Department didn’t happen overnight but the work Mayor O’Reilly is doing to clean it up is a step in the right direction. Short term, yes, it is another negative story but we need to keep focused on the long-term payback these actions will have on improving our city.
December 16th, 2009 at 11:53 pm
I’m going to raise a glass to JUSTICE!!!
What do you think about that, Shady?
December 17th, 2009 at 8:01 am
When will they nail Dave Norwood? He must have to much info on O’Reilly that he is being protected. All the Big O did was move him to another department.
December 17th, 2009 at 9:01 am
“…Deberardino was charged with two misdemeanor counts of aiding and abetting Pizzino in the alleged fraudulent property transactions in 2003 and 2005….Deberardino was the deputy director of the Building and Safety Department at the time of the transactions. He had been reassigned to the Economic and Community Development Department following a restructuring in 2009….”
Wow. He still has a job? If found guilty, I would hope he’ll be shown the door instantly.
December 17th, 2009 at 9:10 am
Finally….someone got that Deberardino. Maybe justice will served afterall.
December 17th, 2009 at 9:12 am
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! Merry Christmas and there is a God. “E”, I think you are a emp. of the city also!
December 17th, 2009 at 10:31 am
I must agree with Darren. Why after all of this with Debeberardino was he allowed to continue working? Why was he transfered to Community Development? This is starting to smell more and more and I hope that the FBI continues its investigation. Little fish have been busted but not a big fish, why? I can’t believe that is just Dearborn with corruption. I would also hope that the FBI expands its investigations to other nearby communities.
December 17th, 2009 at 11:58 am
“Yes, Virginia. There is a Santa Claus”.
December 17th, 2009 at 12:43 pm
I suspect Norwood is clean and would be infinitely surprised to find otherwise. Pizzino had all the juice he needed to get his agendas furthered. YES, agendas, plural. More will be revealed with many “big name” realtors jumping ship or traveling abroad, perhaps! You know who you are, you best get out of Dodge!
December 17th, 2009 at 1:01 pm
I wonder if these two birdies have been doing some singing.
December 17th, 2009 at 2:25 pm
This is just a continuation of a long tradition of corruption in Dearborn’s Building Department: Sam ‘the price is right’ Mann, followed by Lou ‘I don’t need no stinkin permits for my home’ Duncan. Vires, unfortunately Norwood was the head of the department. Does he bear no responsibility to supervise his employees? I find it very hard to believe that this went on under his nose without Norwood at least noticing or possibly having more involvement. I agree with Wanting and others: something still smells here. I, too, am hopeful that this is not the end of the matter…perhaps a New Years’ gift for others, too?
Oh, and Vires, welcome back!
December 17th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
Wow! Happy, happy, joy joy! I had to recheck the story to see if I was dreaming. I believe this is finally happening! Andy the wife beater is finally charged with what he has been doing for, well since his date of employment! Yeah he’ll sing and all the residents, contractors, realators, business owners, polititions, and department heads who benifitted from his scribbled signature of approval better know it’s coming. Bob is being charged for knowing it went on, but that is a pretty slippery slope (eh mark guido)! Watch for some early retirements to save some pensions. And people thought I was “nut’s”! I might just have to change my name to “Clear Skies”!
December 17th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
Finally they got Houdini (Pizzino), thanks no doubt to Dave Norwood. Don’t stop here big fella — squeeze a little tighter, and Norwood will come crumbling down also, because you aren’t that much of a dufus to think he wasn’t involved, and you will have everyone patting you on the back, for a job well done.
December 17th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
Why not have the State Police follow up, and look a little deeper, after all anytime a police officer is involved in something shady, the Big Fella calls in the State Police, do the same now, you’ll be surprised,at what you will discover. Maybe though you don’t want them to tell you about others involved namely Norwood. After all you might have to punish Dave, maybe by promoting him again.
December 18th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
I wish I could have more faith in the FBI. How many residents complained about getting shaken down by B&S all these years? How were those complaints handled? If you have ever complained about B&S, as I have, and some of the tactics and attitudes you encounter from inspectors etc, you know how quickly you get labeled a troublemaker and your questions and complaints are immediately passed off as invalid. O’Reilly turned a deaf ear all this time. I feel sorry for the good employees who had to endure working in that snake pit.
December 18th, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Big bad Jack sticks his nose where it doesn’t belong, most of the time, and now he tries to pass himself off as our savior, however, you were told about the building dept. for a long time, and Mr. Pizzino in particular, however you let Norwood tell you differently, now you simply look like a dufus.
December 19th, 2009 at 10:47 am
Before all of you get too excited, please keep in mind that these charges are MISDEMEANORS. After expending hundreds if not thousands of investigative man hours by police to nail these guys, all they could come up with is a handful of very petty charges. For example, the “fraud” charges for Pizzino could merely consist of the fact that he was indeed flipping some houses on the side. And ethics violations could be the acceptance of something as small as a box of chocolates. For Deberardino, his crime could be simply knowing about the house flipping and signing the CO’s.
When lay persons hear the term “fraud” they immediately envision wholesale swindling and stealing. Not to dismiss entirely the notion that they have been subpar in the performance of their jobs, nevertheless I feel confident that I could persuade a jury that firing these guys for taking a box of candy is well beyond the normal punishments for these violations.
December 23rd, 2009 at 6:20 pm
I think that Dearborn needs to clean house, starting with the Mayors office. When asked if I am registered voter, I say not as far as Dearborn is concerned. I have lived in this city for the past 50yrs, and the corruption continues on a daily basis. If you are filling the right persons pocket, you are not seen or heard. We as Dearborn residents watch this city crumble as each day passes. The Mayor and his followers shoud be ASHAMed that it’s residents have to pay and park while supporting is fellow buisness owners. But let me drive my car to east dearborn where the residients cannot speak english, or even know one bit on dearborns history, DO NOT have to pay to park. Let me ask you now, who is filling the Mayors Pocket!!!
December 26th, 2009 at 10:13 pm
Has anyone checked into the activities of Nancy Siwik regarding the housing department? Siwik is tied tightly to O’Reilly, for some reason, and to Guido before. She is the designated ‘Doug Thomas hater’, but it must go deeper than that. Siwik owns many houses in our city and is often behind in taxes. The City bought a property from Siwik and tore the house down at City expense that she should have torn down herself. Now the City has refused to sell the vacant property to the next-door neighbor, who is interested. The City Planner himself says he wants to combine the property with the one next door, whenever that homeowner dies. What stinks about that plan is that it is exactly what Siwik told the living homeowner when she tried to bully him out of his house. So, even though O’Reilly is saying he is going to do away with corruption in the housing department, his own office connections are supporting it.