Ethics probe could oust HV Supreme Justice from seat

The New York State Commission on Judicial Conduct recommended removing Justice Joseph Alessandro from office Monday for allegedly trying to defraud his own campaign manager and refusing to pay back a $250,000 loan in a timely fashion.
Alessandro has heard hundreds of cases in Westchester and the Hudson Valley and sits on the State Supreme Court in Orange County. According to the commission, Alessandro and his brother Francis Alessandro, who is a judge in the Bronx, were served written complaints in February of 2007 by the top state ethics board. The commission heard both brothers? ethics cases in December 2008 and finally recommended they both be removed from office Monday.
The report filed by the commission alleges Alessandro filed financial statements and loan applications with the intention to conceal a $250,000 debt owed to the campaign manager.
Alessandro will be able to accept the commission?s decision, or make a written request to the chief judge for a review by the Court of Appeals. If Alessandro is removed from office, he may never hold judicial office again in the future.