Nicholas Analitis of Gorilla Contracting gets prison for using forged documents

By Robert Brodskyrobert.brodsky@newsday.com @BrodskyRobertUpdated October 5, 2023

A Massapequa contractor was sentenced Thursday to 3½ to 7 years in prison after pleading guilty to utilizing forged documents, including bank checks and apprenticeship agreements, to win work from the Village of Babylon and the Town of Islip, Suffolk County prosecutors said.

Nicholas Analitis, 45, had pleaded guilty in March to two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, while his company, Gorilla Contracting Group LLC, pleaded guilty to one count of the same charge.

“Forgery and fraudulent business activity are not victimless crimes,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney. “The kind of deceit that these defendants engaged in hurts the workers whose livelihoods depend on trusted business dealings.”

Gorilla Contracting is required to pay more than $106,000 in restitution to Road and Heavy Construction Laborers’ Union Local 1298, and nearly $33,000 to the International Union of the Operating Engineers Local Union 138, 138A, and 138B.

Analitis' defense attorney, Lawrence Carra of Mineola, said his client is "truly remorseful for his actions and attempted to right his wrongs prior to his time of incarceration."

Prosecutors said that in the summer of 2018, Analitis possessed a forged Comerica Bank check in which the value amount and the name of the payee, were altered. The check was instead made payable to “Nick Consulting Services Inc.,” one of Analitis’ corporations, officials said. Additionally, in mid-2020, Analitis possessed a surety bond with a forged signature that was submitted to Babylon Village for a public works project.

Meanwhile, Gorilla Contracting was found in possession of a bogus Apprenticeship Program agreement with Union Local 1298 that it submitted in 2021 to the Town of Islip while bidding package for a public works project.

“This prosecution also sends a powerful message to every company owner who believes the law is meant to be ignored, skirted, or broken," said William Duffy, president of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local Union 138.

Joseph Montalbano, president of Labors Union Local 66, added that "contractors have been cheating workers and municipalities on Long Island public work projects for too long … Everyone cheating workers and taxpayers on construction projects should know that they are not above the law."