13.08.2012

Mechanic gets community service

Tibor Varganyi the mechanic involved in the fatal New York tower crane failure in May 2008 has been sentenced to a year of community service.

The sentence reflects the fact that he made a plea bargain to criminally negligent homicide last year allowed him to avoid a possible 15-year prison sentence in exchange for testifying at the manslaughter trial of his former employer, James Lomma, the owner of New York Crane and Equipment. Lomma was acquitted of manslaughter and other charges earlier this year.
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Tibor Varganyi in court

The families of the two men who died, Donald Leo, 30 and Ramadan Kurtaj, 27 attended the formal sentencing in the hope of persuading Justice Thomas Farber of State Supreme court in Manhattan to change his mind and hand down a prison sentence.

Varganyi testified that he had been instructed by Lomma to save time and money by ordering a slew ring weldment repair for an old Kodiak tower crane from a supplier in China that had expressed concern about its ability to carry out such a repair. The repair gave way causing the crane superstructure to fall into the street killing the two men. Click here to see earlier reports of enter Lomma in the search box