New court decision supports DeFalco appeal

By TOM KANE

CALLICOON — Top of the World developer Joe DeFalco won an appeal last Monday in a case against a former official of the Town of Delaware and a local businessman that has been pending for 11 years.

The U.S. Court of Appeals of the Second Circuit for New York awarded DeFalco a total of $1.03 million against John Bernas, a local construction company owner, and William Dirie, the former supervisor of the Town of Delaware.

The case was on appeal by Bernas and Dirie.

DeFalco’s request to reintroduce former county administrator Paul Rouis and former Delaware planning board Chairman V. Edward Curtis was denied.

DeFalco was awarded $250,000 from Bernas and $95,000 from William Dirie. Under the provisions of a RICO law program, a criminal proceedings, DeFalco received treble damages, amounting to $1.03 million.

“We have several options,” said Bernas’s lawyer, Martin Schwartz. “We will study the decision and may seek a retrial or have the case heard before the entire cohort of judges in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. Or we could even go to the U.S. Supreme Court. We’ll see.”

DeFalco views the decision of the court as “an enormous victory for the little guy. This shows what can happen when one guy doesn’t back down to the corruption of Sullivan County,” DeFalco said. “You can beat the government if you have the heart for it.”

DeFalco claims there is still corruption in Sullivan County. “Only the names have changed,” he said.