Two East Hampton Building Officials Indicted for Accepting Permit Bribes

A senior East Hampton Town Building Department office assistant allegedly received cash from contractors and passed half to a building inspector on the same day, sometimes within minutes, enabling paid applicants to jump a permit queue that left honest contractors waiting months. Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced the indictment of Evelyn Calderon, 46, of Mastic, and Ryan Benitez, 37, of East Hampton on April 2, each charged with five counts of Bribe Receiving in the Third Degree and five counts of Official Misconduct.

The scheme, as described by prosecutors, was direct: a contractor paid cash, Calderon bypassed the standard chronological order in which applications are processed, and Benitez conducted an expedited inspection and issued the permit within days rather than months. The indictment covers five separate instances involving four unnamed contractors, with individual payments ranging from $1,500 to $6,000. The alleged conduct ran from June 2024 through January 2025. The first count charges both defendants with accepting $3,500 from "Contractor 1" between June 1 and June 27, 2024; the largest transaction alleged, $6,000 from "Contractor 4," is the subject of Count 9, covering November 4, 2024 through January 27, 2025.

"Public servants are expected to act with honesty and fairness in the course of their duties," DA Tierney said. "The law is meant to be administered equitably for everyone, not manipulated by the corrupt actions of those who are unjustly enriched by accepting cash bribes."

Both defendants were arraigned before Supreme Court Justice Timothy P. Mazzei and released on their own recognizance, as the charges are non-bail-eligible under New York State law. They are due back in court May 21, 2026. A conviction on the top counts, Class D felonies, carries 2 1/3 to 7 years in prison. Calderon is represented by attorney Edward Burke Jr., who confirmed the arrests but declined further comment. Benitez is represented by attorney Austin Maghan, who also declined to comment. The Town of East Hampton issued no statement.

Neither defendant was actively employed by the town at the time of the indictment. Calderon had been suspended with pay in spring 2025, identified in a town board resolution only as "employee 1254," and placed on paid administrative leave since; she remained listed on the town's website as principal office assistant as recently as this week. Benitez resigned January 7, 2026, submitting his letter to Town Administrator Rebecca Hansen and Town Attorney Jacob Turner. At least one other building inspector departed after him.

The charges cap more than a year of mounting instability in the department. Rumors of a DA investigation surfaced in summer 2024, when then-principal building inspector Joseph Palermo raised concerns with Councilwoman Cate Rogers, the board's liaison to the building department, before resigning and becoming chief building inspector in East Hampton Village. By January 2026, public information officer Patrick Derenze had identified 15 employees as the department's target headcount while the town's own website showed only nine on staff. The department averaged more than 250 phone calls per day in 2026, roughly 37 per hour. In February, Councilman David Lys announced a planned move to a larger suite within the department's Pantigo Place building, targeting end of April.

The indictment arrived one week after DA Tierney's office announced a related guilty plea: Brianna Hassett, 33, of Wading River, an office assistant in the licensing unit of the Suffolk County Department of Labor, Licensing and Consumer Affairs, pleaded guilty on March 25 to Attempted Bribe Receiving in the Third Degree for accepting bribes and falsifying license paperwork in concert with her husband, Esteban Bermudez. Both cases are being prosecuted by the DA's Public Corruption Bureau, led by Bureau Chief Kevin Ward and Deputy Bureau Chief Laura de Oliveira.

The town has not announced any audit of permits issued during the alleged bribery period or any formal review mechanism for contractors who believe they may have been solicited. Those with information can contact the Suffolk County DA's Public Corruption Bureau directly.