A Manhattan judge this morning completed a near grand-slam acquittal for contractors accused of sparking the deadly Deutsche Bank fire four years ago.
In yet another black eye for the Manhattan DA’s office, Mitchel Alvo — director of asbestos abatement for subcontractor John Galt Corp — and the company itself were cleared of any wrong doing by Supreme Court Justice Rena Uviller.
The company was found guilty of second-degree reckless endangerment, a misdemeanor, but Alvo was acquitted of all charges that included manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment. The company faces a $5,000 fine.
Alvo rushed out of the courthouse with his wife, who was shedding tears of joy.
“I’m just going to get on with my life and start making a living again,” he said. “We’re very relieved. This is what we expected.”
Two other contractors, Jeffrey Melofchik and Salvatore DePaola, were acquitted by a Manhattan jury last week.
Alvo and the company opted for bench trials and Uviller agreed with jurors that they were not criminally responsible for the massive Aug. 18, 2007, blaze that killed firefighters Robert Beddia, 53, and Joseph Graffagnino, 33.
The defendants — hired to bring down the ghostly building that had been damaged beyond repair in the 9/11 attacks — were accused of cutting a stand pipe that could have provided water to the firefighters and prevented their deaths.
Alvo had faced up to 15 years in prison and the company could have been hit with a $10,000 fine.
The acquittals were the latest blow to the besieged office of Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance.
His prosecutors last week were forced to back track on sexual assault allegations against former IMF leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn.
Then in another high-profile setback, Manhattan prosecutors failed to nail two NYPD cops last month for allegedly raping a drunk party girl inside her East Village apartment in December 2008.