Posted Feb 06, 2010 @ 11:16 PM
Last update Feb 06, 2010 @ 11:42 PM
First in a two-part series
In November 2007, when the City Council was going to bat to get Joseph L. Vasapollo Jr. his certification as a state building inspector, Vasapollo was in the parking lot of the Foxy Lady strip club, delivering a city check to a contractor in exchange for kickback money.
Vasapollo never got his certification, but he did get caught in the criminal kickback scheme.
The 67-year-old city resident was fired from his $91,631-a-year job as building superintendent soon after being indicted last September — and on Tuesday, he pleaded guilty to federal extortion and bribery charges. Vasapollo will be sentenced in April.
Now, in the wake of that scandal in the Building Department, the city says it has learned its lesson and changed its way of doing business.