The former head of key economic develop programs for Governor Andrew Cuomo, including the Buffalo Billion, was sentenced to three and a half years in prison by a federal judge Tuesday. Dr. Alain Kaloyeros, who was convicted in July of bid rigging and other corruption charges, was also ordered to pay a $100,000 fine.
Kaloyeros was found guilty of helping steer hundreds of millions of dollars in taxpayer funded state contracts to favored developers.
The developers, Louis Ciminelli of Buffalo and Steven Aiello and Joe Gerardi, of COR development in Syracuse, all were sentenced to at least two years in prison earlier this month.
Kaloyeros, a Lebanese immigrant who survived the civil war in that country, rose to head the SUNY Polytechnic Institute, and is credited with jump starting the Nano tech industry in upstate New York.
Governor Cuomo, who once called Kaloyeros his “economic guru” and a “genius” said at the time of Kaloyeros’ conviction that he should be “punished to the full extent of the law”.
Cuomo was not implicated in the trials and said he did not know the bid rigging was going on.