He got run over by the “gravy train.”
A former LIRR worker who got caught doing manual labor after retiring on disability became the first of nearly two dozen defendants to admit his role in a massive, $1 billion pension scam.
Gary Satin, 62, pleaded guilty today to charges that he schemed to defraud the Railroad Retirement Board and lied to a Manhattan federal grand jury investigating his case.
Satin’s plea deal with prosecutors calls for up to 30 months in the slammer, and he also agreed to cough up $247,000 in corrupt benefit payments, or surrender anything he bought with the crooked cash.
Satin, who now lives in North Carolina, retired as a railroad electrician in 2005 and claimed he could no longer work due to chronic back pain.
The scheme netted him $36,468 in disability payments in 2010, in addition to $32,991 in pension payments, according to court records.
But Satin got ratted out by an unidentified acquaintance who videotaped him installing an underground irrigation system in 2008.
Investigators also spoke to a North Carolina woman who paid Satin several thousand dollars to install ceiling fans and perform electrical and carpentry work in her home.
According to court papers, Satin paid $750 for a phony disability diagnosis from a Long Island orthopedist, Dr. Peter Ajemian, who’s allegedly one of three doctors who ran “disability mills” to help LIRR workers claim work-related injuries.
In court today, Satin offered no explanation for his scam, but said his perjury before the grand jury — when he denied earning any income following his retirement — came after he “panicked” during questioning.
“I made a wrong decision. I should have corrected it then,” he added.
Satin, who remains free on bond pending sentencing, declined to comment further outside court.
bruce.golding@nypost.com