Two construction execs facing up to 20 years in the slammer for faking steel and concrete test results at some of the city’s most prominent projects, including Yankee Stadium and the World Trade Center, got their sentences cut to four years or less by a state appellate panel today.
The judges tossed the 2010 enterprise corruption convictions against Testwell Laboratories Inc. CEO V. Reddy Kancharla and his No. 2., Vincent Barone, for the long-standing scheme that netted their firm millions of dollars.
Their other dozen fraud-related convictions for submitting phony tests at some 120 different construction sites remain unchanged.
In addition, the panel found Manhattan Justice Edward McLaughlin’s order that their sentences be serviced consecutively “unduly harsh.”
At the time, McLaughlin said he hoped the sentences would “send a message” to the notoriously corrupt construction industry.
Kancharla, who twice attempted suicide since his conviction, had his 7- to 21-year sentence reduced to 16 months to four years.
Likewise Barone saw his 5 ¹/₃- to 16-year sentence cut to the same.
In their decision, however, the judges found prosecutors “failed to produce any evidence that either defendant knew that the rest results and inspection reports were fabricated, much less that the defendants spearheaded a criminal enterprise.”
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, which has the right to appeal, declined to comment.