Officials Raid State Worker Drug Den at Empire State Plaza

• by New York State Inspector General

ALBANY, NY (07/17/2009)(readMedia)-- A state janitor was arrested and his boss suspended this week amid allegations that they created a hidden party lounge at an Empire State Plaza garage to sell drugs, smoke pot and sleep for hours during work shifts.

Louis Marciano, an Office of General Services (OGS) supervisor in charge of an East Garage cleaning crew, and Gary Pivoda, a cleaner, gave co-workers and others special access to a locked room outfitted with couches, TV and scales to weigh marijuana, officials said. The Inspector General and New York State Police are continuing the investigation and additional charges may be pending.

Investigators said Marciano and Pivoda routinely clocked in at 4 p.m., got high, then slept while other janitors cleaned Pivoda's section of the East Garage at Madison Avenue and Eagle Street. Pivoda allegedly made evening drug deliveries in his OGS truck to electricians, plumbers and other state employees. Two garage co-workers were arrested in December for smoking pot at work. New York State Police dismantled the "man cave" in a late-night raid Tuesday.

Pivoda, 48, of Latham, a state employee since 2000 earning $29,600 a year, was charged with marijuana possession and misdemeanor criminal use of drug paraphernalia for having a scale in the den. Marciano, 50, of Rensselaer, is a 31-year state employee earning $37,470 a year. Both men were suspended by OGS without pay.

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