When Michael Provenzano was a city construction official, he accepted thousands of dollars in bribes from a developer who wanted to keep paying laborers below the legal wage.
Now, as his sentencing date nears, the ex-director of construction services for the Department of Housing Preservation and Development is styling himself as an altruistic do-gooder who has gone above and beyond to rebuild Hurricane Sandy-damaged homes.
And he thinks the judge should let him walk as a result.
Citing his client’s “compassion for others,” lawyer Matthew Fishbein suggests Provenzano should get probation instead of the 24 to 30 months behind bars that Brooklyn federal prosecutors insist is warranted.
Provenzano pleaded guilty in October, admitting he took several $10,000 bribes from January 2007 to December 2009 to overlook workers’ being paid below levels mandated by federal law on city contract jobs.