QUEENS DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

QUEENS PSYCHOLOGIST AND WIFE INDICTED FOR POSSESSION OF ILLEGAL WEAPONS AND CRIMINAL PROPERTY

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown and Richard J. Griffin, Inspector General, Department of Veterans Affairs announced today the indictment of a child psychologist and former VA Veterans Outreach Specialist and his wife who own and operate a preschool and infant evaluation center in Jamaica, New York on charges of possessing three illegal handguns inside their home.

District Attorney Brown and Inspector General Griffin identified the defendants as Nicholas J. Pascucci, 51 and his wife Beatrice Pascucci, 52 of 87-68 98th Street, Woodhaven, N.Y. They own and oeprate the Parsons Pre-School at 84-16 Parsons Boulevard, Jamaica and Psychotheraputic Evaluational Programs, Inc. at 83-28 Parsons Boulevard. They are charged with three counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of criminal possession of stolen property. If convicted of the charges they face up to seven years in prison.

According to the charges on September 30, 1997, the defendants possessed two .38 caliber handguns, one of which was defaced and a .45 caliber handgun inside their home. The weapons were recovered during a search of the premises conducted by federal agents pursuant to a warrant issued by the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York.

Mr. Griffin said that the search warrant was obtained in connection with a federal investigation into fraudulent workers compensation claims made by the defendant Nicholas Pascucci. He said that Nicholas Pascucci pleaded guilty on August 7, 1998 to illegally collecting over $320,000 in benefits by falsely reporting that he was unable to work because of an injury sustained while working for the VA in 1984.

Today's indictment is the result of a joint investigation conducted by the Northeast Field Office of the Department of Veterans Affairs' Inspector Generals's Office under the supervision of Mr. Griffin; the U.S. Department of Labor, Office of the Inspector General; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; and the New York City Police Department.

Assistant District Attorney Gregory Pavlides of District Attorney Brown's Organized Crime and Rackets Bureau which is under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Brian Mich, presented the case to the Grand Jury and is in charge of the prosecution.

It should be noted that an indictment is merely an accusation and that a person is presumed innocent until proven guilty.