Former Tyco chief Dennis Kozlowski who’s serving time for fleecing company coffers to support his lavish lifestyle, will get another chance at parole, a Manhattan Supreme Court judge has ruled.
Kozlowski was denied parole in April when state officials tossed out his application saying his release was not “compatible with the welfare of society at large.”
But in a ruling made public today, Justice Carol Huff this week called that decision “an unauthorized re-sentencing” of Kozlowski, adding that it lacked specifics. In making its decision, she said, the parole board must consider other factors beyond the crime including the inmate’s institutional record, which the tycoon asserted is exemplary.
“Mr. Kozlowski has been a model inmate. He has never been disciplined for the violation of any prison rule,” previous court documents assert.
Huff ordered a new parole hearing.
Kozlowski, who’s serving 8 to 25 years for grand larceny and falsifying business records, challenged the board’s ruling in an October 2012 petition to the Manhattan court.
He’s been in jail for just under eight years. The looted funds famously went to the purchase of a $6,000 gold shower curtain and a $15,000 umbrella stand, among other luxury items.
Kozlowski’s only in the clink part time. He’s been on a work release program since last January and spends his weekdays and weeknights as an office clerk for a computer software company. He sleeps in jail just two nights a week.
“During this entire period of time while at liberty on work release, Mr. Kozlowski has lived a law abiding life and has never been a threat to public safety or welfare,” he petition attests.
A rep for the parole board declined to comment because she hadn’t seen the court’s decision.
Kozlwoski’s attorney did not immediately return calls.