Former director of Hempstead housing authority admits to kickback scheme
Stacey Stackhouse, the former executive director of the Hempstead Village Housing Authority, is led out of the FBI field office in Melville on Tuesday, April 7, 2015. Credit: James Carbone
The former executive director of the Hempstead Village Housing Authority has pleaded guilty in connection with a $400,000 kickback scheme involving repairs at the authority's developments, officials said.
Stacey Stackhouse of Dobbs Ferry pleaded guilty to a fraud conspiracy charge late Thursday in federal court in Central Islip, officials said.
Stackhouse and several contractors who worked for the authority were arrested in April after an investigation by Jennifer Lake, an agent with the office of the inspector general of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to court papers.
At the time of the arrest, a federal official said Stackhouse's actions were "for no legitimate purpose other than to steal money."
Stackhouse, who earned $130,000 a year and also received free housing at an authority unit, was fired in April 2013 after the start of a federal investigation into possible financial irregularities at the organization.
Authorities said Stackhouse knew she was approving vastly inflated bids by contractors for repairs at authority properties.
The bids were on the September 2011 repair of the roof at the 32-unit Clinton Court development on Yale Street; the July 2012 repair of piping and a boiler at the 30-unit Gladys Gardens development on Gladys Avenue; and the August 2011 repair of the intercom system at the 75-unit Totten Towers senior development on Totten Street.
Stackhouse had spent more than 17 years administering public housing for various authorities, the authority said.
She was released on bond after entering the guilty plea. No date for sentencing before U.S. District Judge Joan Azrack has been set.
Stackhouse's attorney, federal public defender Tracy Gaffey, declined to comment, as did Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Scotti.
Stackhouse faces up to 20 years in prison but would probably receive a lesser sentence.
The cases against the contractors are in various stages in the court system, according to officials and court papers.
Bob Kessler covers federal law, including law enforcement agencies such as the FBI, DEA, IRS and ATF, as well as the federal courts.
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