Sposato's appointment to run Nassau jail to be focus of legislative hearing

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman's appointment of former Sheriff Michael Sposato to a similar role managing Nassau's jail is expected to be a focal point of a legislative hearing Wednesday examining the facility's operations.

Sposato ran the correctional center in East Meadow for more than a decade until 2018, when Democratic County Executive Laura Curran fired him upon taking office.

In September, Blakeman announced Sposato's return as commissioner of corrections, drawing the ire of the correction officers' union and Democratic county legislators.

Critics have said Sposato's tenure was marked by controversial cost-cutting measures and investigations into inmate care and deaths.

Sposato played a key role in the 2011 hiring of Armor Correctional Health Services, a Miami for-profit company, to replace Nassau University Medical Center as the jail's medical provider.

The New York State Commission of Correction said Armor provided inadequate health care to at least eight of 14 Nassau inmates who died after 2011, when the company began managing health care at the jail.

Last month, Brian Sullivan, president of the Correction Officers Benevolent Association, told legislators that his union would protest Sposato's return if he was "permitted to continue his reign of destruction over this department." 

Two days later, a jail inmate died of an apparent overdose, Blakeman said. Police are still investigating the death. Majority Republicans on the county legislature then set a date for the public safety hearing.

Blakeman said he brought back Sposato to rein in overtime costs and has framed the angst from union members as a dispute over pay. In September, union members rejected a new labor agreement that Blakeman backed.

Nassau Legis. Denise Ford, the chair of the legislature's public safety committee, told Newsday: "I was sort of taken aback," by Sullivan's remarks.

"I didn't realize (Sposato's) moving into that position would generate such concern with the correction officers, and the fact that (Sullivan) attributed low morale to him, that's something that I think we need to hopefully get a better understanding of at the hearing," said Ford, a Long Beach Democrat who caucuses with Republicans.

"We need to make sure the jail is being handled properly," Ford added. "I have to say that I was surprised that he came back."

Nassau Legis. Delia DeRiggi-Whitton (D-Glen Cove), the ranking Democrat on the public safety committee, told Newsday: "I was shocked when he came back because we went through a very dark time with the jail where there were many inmate deaths." 

Chris Boyle, a county spokesman, said in a statement: “Commissioner Sposato has saved taxpayers millions of dollars by cutting unnecessary overtime that does not impact the safety and security of the facility. These cost-cutting measures have obviously upset some in union leadership. The county executive will continue to hire additional officers, and allocate funding for capital improvements at the correctional facility to protect inmates, officers and most importantly the surrounding community.”

Sposato declined to comment, Boyle said.

County officials say overtime has ballooned, while the number of inmates at the jail has declined.
Sposato left county government at the end of 2017, when former County Executive Edward Mangano left office. 

In September, Blakeman appointed undersheriff Anthony LaRocca as acting sheriff, and Sposato as the commissioner of corrections. Then-Sheriff James Dzurenda, a Curran pick, had resigned.

Sposato has contributed to GOP candidates, giving $22,200 to GOP campaigns or committees in 2022, state campaign finance records show.

He gave $400 to Blakeman on May 17 and $10,000 to the Nassau Republican Committee on Sept. 14, a week after Blakeman announced Sposato's appointment. 

Asked about the donations, Boyle said in a statement: "Political contributions have no bearing on governmental decisions."

A spokesman for the Nassau Republican Committee did not respond to a request for comment.

Sposato began his career as a cook in the county jail and was later promoted to kitchen supervisor.

In 2006, union leaders protested his appointment to undersheriff, arguing he had never served as a correction officer. 

In 2007, Sposato came under investigation over whether he used his county car to perform work as a private security guard or process server, Newsday reported at the time.

During Mangano's trial on corruption charges, prosecution witness Harendra Singh testified that he met with Sposato 20 to 25 times in 2012 to lobby for a food contract at the jail. Singh said that at Sposato's request, the two used code words when texting about the deal.

Susan Gottehrer, Nassau director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, told Newsday she was concerned about Sposato's return for "many reasons." 

She cited a stretch of time — between January 2010 and January 2011 — when a total of four inmates killed themselves, saying, "Sposato was a concern when he was in charge before; it's a concern now."

By Scott Eidler

scott.eidler@newsday.com@ScottEidler

Scott Eidler is a deputy editor for the towns department at Newsday. Scott has worked at Newsday since 2012 and previously covered municipal government and education.