Islip Conservative Party leader Michael Torres pleads not guilty to concealing criminal history on town job application

The Suffolk County district attorney Thursday charged Islip's Conservative Party leader with concealing criminal convictions on a town job application form at a First District Court arraignment in Central Islip.

Michael Torres, 41, is charged with offering a false instrument for filing, a class E felony that carries a maximum of 1 1/3 to 4 years in state prison.

Torres' attorney, William Keahon of Hauppauge, pleaded not guilty to the charge on his client's behalf before Judge Derrick Robinson during a brief court appearance.

The arrest comes less than six weeks after Newsday reported Torres failed to disclose two misdemeanor convictions -- for promoting gambling and driving without a license -- on a town application form for a $7,875-a-year post on Islip's tax assessment review board.

A close ally of Suffolk County Conservative Party boss Edward Walsh, Torres also earns about $105,800 as a senior elections clerk at the Suffolk County Board of Elections, a job he got in May 2007 after a deal brokered by Walsh and then-county GOP chairman Harry Withers.

Torres remains in both posts.

According to the criminal complaint, on or about Jan. 11, 2013, Torres, "with intent to defraud . . . did file with the Town of Islip an application for a position on their Board of Assessment Review, and did falsely assert that he had never been convicted of a crime."

The charge against Torres is based on "an application which involves the disclosure of whether he in fact did have any prior criminal convictions," Mark Murray, deputy bureau chief with the Suffolk County district attorney's narcotics bureau who is on special assignment with the government corruption bureau, said in court. "The defendant falsely answered no."

Murray referred to Torres' 1997 gambling conviction as well as a 2007 infraction of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol at his arraignment.

Torres entered the court handcuffed and did not speak during the proceeding. He was released on his own recognizance. Outside the court, Keahon declined to take questions as Torres stood silently beside him.

"When I was informed that the district attorney's office was making an inquiry, I began my own investigation. It's not complete," Keahon said, adding he would turn over his findings to the district attorney's office. "I'm fully confident that as a result of what I turn over, at the end of this case, there will be no criminal sanctions."

In the gambling case, Torres initially was charged with a felony for "receiving and accepting more than five (5) bets totaling more than five thousand dollars" for himself and six others, according to court records. He pleaded guilty in 1997 to the misdemeanor gambling charge.

In January 2002, Torres, then 28, was pulled over on suspicion of speeding in Virginia. He was convicted of a misdemeanor for failing to have a valid license.

While at the Board of Elections, in December 2007, Torres was arrested and charged with misdemeanor driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and other traffic violations, according to the criminal complaint. He recorded a blood alcohol level of 0.13 -- above the 0.08 legal limit, the documents state, while driving Walsh's brother's SUV in East Islip. His license was suspended for 90 days and, as part of his one-year conditional discharge, he completed 70 hours of community service, paid a $500 fine and was ordered to a drinking driver program, court records show.

Torres' criminal past excluded him from being hired at the Suffolk County jail, despite pressure on jail officials by Walsh, who sought to have him hired around the start of 2007, a senior jail official at the time told Newsday.

Torres has been linked to a criminal investigation into political corruption and illegal dumping in the Town of Islip.

He was consulted by appointed senior officials in the town's parks department, who are also Conservative Party members, after community complaints in January led to a partial cleanup of dumped material at Roberto Clemente Park in Brentwood, sources with knowledge of the conversations have told Newsday. A special grand jury was empaneled in September to probe the dumping. Its proceedings are secret.

Until recently, the Board of Elections did not require formal application forms to be filled out, nor did it conduct criminal background checks. After Newsday revealed Torres' actions on job applications, the board has moved to introduce an application form and criminal background check for all new hires for the first time in its 35-year history.

Torres remains at the Board of Elections. Suffolk GOP chairman John Jay LaValle did not return calls for comment. His Democratic Party counterpart, Richard Schaffer, said, "Mister Torres' position at the board is a Republican Party issue."

The Town of Islip has taken no action regarding Torres' position on the tax assessment review board despite Town Supervisor Tom Croci's personal request in September for his resignation.

Croci -- now state senator-elect -- referred a reporter to town spokeswoman Patricia Kaloski, who said in a statement: "This matter is currently being handled by the Suffolk County district attorney's office. Consequently, we have no further comment at this time."

During his victory speech on election night, Croci embraced Walsh on the victory podium and thanked Torres, among other party leaders, for their support. Croci and his three fellow Republican Islip board members, Trish Bergin Weichbrodt, Steve Flotteron and John Cochrane, all have relied in prior elections upon Conservative Party cross-endorsement.

The FBI is investigating Walsh for allegedly falsifying time sheets while serving as a county correction lieutenant, his attorney has said. Newsday has reported that the investigation has broadened into a look at possible political corruption on Long Island.

Torres is due back in court Jan. 30.