A former conductor who was clocked by a train at work on the day he planned to retire was sentenced Tuesday to three years of supervised release for faking less “embarrassing” disabilities through the LIRR’s “gravy train” scandal.
Christopher Parlante, 61, of Oyster Bay, LI got a non-jail sentence after turning government witness and helping put away some of the top players in the $1 billion disability-fraud scheme. While testifying before a Manhattan federal jury last July, Parlante revealed being hit by a train in a freight yard on his last scheduled workday before retirement.
When asked why he didn’t list the injury on officials reports to claim disability, Parlante told jurors, “To get hit by a train on your last day of work is quite embarrassing…Quite frankly, I did not want it mentioned.”
The longtime conductor said he was knocked on his back and suffered a bad bruise after bumping into the slowly moving train during the freak accident on Oct. 31, 2004.
Parlante has described himself as an avid weightlifter who plotted for a year and a half to retire early. He said during that period he racked up hundreds of hours of overtime to boost his benefits and created a “paper trail” of needless medical appointments.
Parlante helped convict Dr. Peter Lesniewski and former LIRR union president Joseph Rutigliano in the scam. He testified that documents they drafted to help push through his phony disability pension were filled with untruths — such as him suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome and severe back and neck pains.
Parlante must forfeit $294,717 in fraudulent disability benefits. He had faced 21 to 27 months in prison as part of his November 2012 plea deal with the feds.
Prosecutors in legal papers asked Manhattan federal Judge Kimba Wood to show Parlante leniency, saying that while his conduct “was undoubtedly serious” he “provided substantial assistance to the government throughout his cooperation in the case.”
Parlante’s lawyer Joshua Kirschner declined comment.