A painter who worked at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 was sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison Friday for cheating a victims compensation fund by pretending to be disabled _ a claim later debunked when a video surfaced showing him dancing the limbo at a wedding.
U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero chastised the defendant, Mario Mastellone, for seeing "tragedy as a treasure trove."
Prosecutors said the $1.07 million Mastellone obtained from the September 11 Victim Compensation Fund was the largest fraud perpetrated against the fund.
Mastellone, who earned $70,000 a year as a painter at the World Trade Center, declined to speak at the hearing in Manhattan but said outside court, "I am a victim." The 42-year-old man also was ordered to pay $100,000 in restitution and a $25,000 fine.
Mastellone pleaded guilty in January to one count of illegally obtaining public money. He was accused of making false claims that he was permanently disabled by the terrorist attacks and unable to work after Sept. 11, 2001.
Prosecutors obtained evidence to refute the claim, including a 2002 wedding video that showed him doing the limbo and carrying a woman on his back, and a 2005 video captured outside his East Windsor, New Jersey, home showing him washing his car, carrying bags, moving garbage cans to the curb and shoveling snow.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jenna Dabbs told the judge the compensation fund was to benefit the families of those who died or were severely injured. "Where others saw only tragedy from this event, this defendant saw opportunity," Dabbs said.
Marrero recounted the heroic deeds of thousands of people who he said suffered just as Mastellone did but did not exaggerate or fake injuries to win federal aid.
"Only a few saw the occasion of human suffering as a license to steal," he said. "By lying, you exploited and capitalized on those tragic events."
