Two corrupt town workers in posh East Hampton accepted thousands of dollars in cash bribes from contractors in exchange for near-instant under-the-table building permits, according to prosecutors.
Town Building Inspector Ryan Benitez, 37, and his senior office assistant, Evelyn Calderon, 46, pocketed more than $16,000 from four unnamed contractors so that the builders could sidestep the months-long approval process and have their permits and certificates of occupancy secretly fast-tracked, Suffolk County prosecutors claimed.
The pair of government employees would sometimes jump into action within minutes of getting a request — and cut down the typical months-long process to mere hours for the right price, officials alleged.
“Public servants are expected to act with honesty and fairness in the course of their duties,” Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney said. “Public servants are expected to act with honesty and fairness in the course of their duties,” Suffolk District Attorney Ray Tierney said in a statement.
“The law is meant to be administered equitably for everyone, not manipulated by the corrupt actions of those who are unjustly enriched by accepting cash bribes.”
The two workers — who were charged with misdemeanors, including five counts of bribe receiving and official misconduct each — ran the dirty scheme across five separate transactions between June 2024 and January 2025, according to the indictment.
Calderon would allegedly pocket the bribe, then contact Benitez, at times within minutes, to get the illicit rubber-stamping going and wrapped up sometimes within hours.
East Hampton officials eventually caught wind of the scheme and launched an internal investigation in October 2024 and handed their findings off to the DA’s office, a town rep said.
Benitez quietly resigned in January while Calderon was suspended without pay for 30 days in April and has been on paid leave since.
Benitez and Calderon pleaded not guilty at their April 2 arraignment and are due back in court May 21.
