MAN SENTENCED TO 7 YEARS IN PRISON IN DRUG CASE

QUEENSBURY -- A Lake George man who police believe ran a major cocaine
distribution ring was sentenced to up to 7 years in state prison
Wednesday, but not before he blamed a co-defendant who received a less
severe sentence.

Joseph Bongiorno, 45, of McGillis Avenue had asked that Judge John
Hall sentence him to a prison term that would allow inclusion in the
state prison system's two main drug treatment programs. If allowed to
participate in those programs, he could have been released from prison
in less than a year if he completed one or both.

Warren County First Assistant District Attorney Jason Carusone,
though, pointed out that Bongiorno told the county Probation
Department that he did not use drugs and did not have a drug problem.
Carusone said the Probation Department recommended the maximum
sentence because of a perceived lack of responsibility on Bongiorno's
part.

Seconds later, Bongiorno tried to deflect some of the blame and place
it on one of two co-defendants.

Bongiorno appeared agitated as he told the judge the 6 ounces of
cocaine that were found in his home were not his but belonged to
co-defendant Jason Strainer. Strainer, 26, of Greenwich received a
sentence of 2 years in state prison and had agreed to cooperate
against Bongiorno if Bongiorno's case went to trial.

"That was not mine," Bongiorno said of the drugs. "His fingerprints
were all over that. That was his stuff."

The drug seizure last April at Bongiorno's then-home on West Mountain
Road in Queensbury was the biggest in Warren County's history.

Bongiorno's lawyer spoke to him as Bongiorno was protesting his
innocence, causing the defendant to halt his statement. Bongiorno then
ended his comments about Strainer, and his lawyer, Todd Monahan, asked
that they be stricken from the court record.

"He will go to prison and do everything he can to become a productive
member of society," Monahan said.

Monahan said Bongiorno does have a drug problem, and that he wanted to
be able to participate in the state's Community Alcohol and Substance
Abuse Treatment (CASAT) program.

If he was allowed to take part in that program, he could serve as
little as six months before his release to parole supervision.

Hall declined to recommend the program, which will mean that Bongiorno
will serve his sentence in the general prison population unless he
convinces the state Department of Correctional Services that he should
be allowed to be involved in CASAT or in the Willard Correctional
Facility drug program.

He will have to serve at least 6 years before becoming eligible for
parole, and he will have to serve 5 years on parole after his release
on the charge of second-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance.

In addition to the cocaine found in his home, police also seized a
pickup truck and an all-terrain vehicle from Bongiorno.

A third man who was involved in the distribution network, Pawel L.
Moroz, 25, of South Glens Falls also pleaded guilty and is to serve
4-1/2 years in state prison.

The case was investigated by the Warren County Sheriff's Office and
Capital District Drug Enforcement Task Force.