Two executives with the Syracuse-based COR Development have agreed to a plea agreement to curb a retrial of the defendants in the Buffalo Billion corruption case, according to court papers obtained Thursday by Spectrum News 1.
The documents say Steven Aiello and Joseph Gerardi have pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, avoiding additional sentencing.
Aiello and Gerardi, along with Buffalo developer Louis Ciminelli and Alain Kaloyeros, former head of SUNY Polytechnic Institute, were convicted in 2018 on charges of corruption over upstate construction projects worth hundreds of millions of dollars. In 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned their convictions and remanded the case to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, which had ordered a new trial on a new indictment, according to court documents. Rather than go to trial, Aiello and Gerardi made this plea agreement and will pay $250,000 fines with no additional jail time…