U.S. Labels Biaggi and 6 Others Thieves as Wedtech Trial Opens

NEW YORK â€”  U.S. Rep. Mario Biaggi (D-N.Y.) and six co-defendants were greedy thieves who plundered a now-defunct Bronx defense contractor for millions of dollars, the government charged Friday at the start of the Wedtech Corp. racketeering trial.

“This is a case about corruption and greed and the purchase and sale of public offices. It is a case about public officials who want to get paid twice, once by the people who elected them to do their job, again by someone else,� Assistant U.S. Atty. Howard Wilson told the jury in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

“This case involves the story of the rise of a little company in the Bronx� that began in 1965 as a machine shop and grew by 1978 to $1.5 million in sales by taking advantage of laws that promoted the growth of minority-owned enterprises, Wilson said.

‘Corruption and Lies’

“Seven years later, this company had grown like Topsy� to a defense contractor with 1,000 employees and $117 million in revenues, becoming “the biggest single employer in the Bronx,� he said. “The success was achieved through corruption and lies.�

Defendants in the trial are Biaggi; former Bronx Borough President Stanley Simon; Bernard G. Ehrlich, Biaggi’s former law partner; Biaggi’s son, Richard; Peter Neglia, former regional administrator of the Small Business Administration; John Mariotta, former Wedtech chairman, and Ronald Betso, a former police officer and friend of Neglia’s.

“They all treated this company like a gold mine,� Wilson said. “Some took a lot. Some took a little. But they all took.�

Wilson said he would present testimony from Wedtech accountants, supervisors, workers, Sen. Alfonse M. D’Amato (R-N.Y.) and four former officials who have pleaded guilty to crimes involving Wedtech.

Defense attorneys will begin presenting their arguments Monday.