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The former chief financial officer of a Valhalla cancer-research center admitted he lied to federal investigators about the center's misuse of millions of dollars in federal grant money.
But Roy Victor said he did not do it to line his own pockets. He did it, he said, in hopes that the Institute for Cancer Research could survive and search for cures for the disease that claimed his father and struck his younger brother at 15.
"I was driven by the goal of keeping the cancer research going," he said yesterday as he stood for sentencing in U.S. District Court in White Plains.
Judge Kenneth Karas took Victor's lack of personal enrichment into account, sentencing him to six months of home confinement and two years of supervised release for his guilty plea to obstruction of justice.
"I think this is an individual who, it needs to be recognized, did not do any of this out of any personal aggrandizement," Karas said. The judge also cited the dozens of letters of support he received as part of Victor's pre-sentencing package, his charitable acts on behalf of his Yorktown neighbors and the needs of Victor's two young daughters in deciding to fashion a sentence below the 12 to 18 months in prison recommended by federal guidelines.
The Institute for Cancer Prevention filed for bankruptcy in September 2004, ending 35 years of research. The bankruptcy filing came three months after federal auditors determined that the institute had improperly sought grant money to cover unrelated expenses.
Victor, 44, admitted that he lied to federal investigators when he told them the institute had not submitted false statements to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which administered the nearly $6 million in federal grant money awarded to the institute. It submitted the statements to account for money drawn from the grants. But the statements did not reflect that the institute actually used the grant money for improper purchases, including the leasing of office space on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Assistant U.S. Attorney Perry Carbone said.
In all, the institute misspent more than $5 million in grant money, Carbone said, with $2.5 million of that unlikely to ever be recovered.
Victor, he said, lied to federal investigators "on multiple occasions" over the course of 18 months.
But Jonathan Gardner, Victor's lawyer, said he did eventually tell the whole truth during a third interview with FBI agents.
"At the end of the day, he did come clean," he said. "He did explain exactly what he did."
Outside court, Victor expressed relief at the sentence.
"I'm looking forward to regaining my life and moving on," he said.
Reach Timothy O'Connor at tpoconnor@lohud.com or 914-694-3523.
But Roy Victor said he did not do it to line his own pockets. He did it, he said, in hopes that the Institute for Cancer Research could survive and search for cures for the disease that claimed his father and struck his younger brother at 15.
"I was driven by the goal of keeping the cancer research going," he said yesterday as he stood for sentencing in U.S. District Court in White Plains.
Judge Kenneth Karas took Victor's lack of personal enrichment into account, sentencing him to six months of home confinement and two years of supervised release for his guilty plea to obstruction of justice.
"I think this is an individual who, it needs to be recognized, did not do any of this out of any personal aggrandizement," Karas said. The judge also cited the dozens of letters of support he received as part of Victor's pre-sentencing package, his charitable acts on behalf of his Yorktown neighbors and the needs of Victor's two young daughters in deciding to fashion a sentence below the 12 to 18 months in prison recommended by federal guidelines.
The Institute for Cancer Prevention filed for bankruptcy in September 2004, ending 35 years of research. The bankruptcy filing came three months after federal auditors determined that the institute had improperly sought grant money to cover unrelated expenses.
Victor, 44, admitted that he lied to federal investigators when he told them the institute had not submitted false statements to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which administered the nearly $6 million in federal grant money awarded to the institute. It submitted the statements to account for money drawn from the grants. But the statements did not reflect that the institute actually used the grant money for improper purchases, including the leasing of office space on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, Assistant U.S. Attorney Perry Carbone said.
In all, the institute misspent more than $5 million in grant money, Carbone said, with $2.5 million of that unlikely to ever be recovered.
Victor, he said, lied to federal investigators "on multiple occasions" over the course of 18 months.
But Jonathan Gardner, Victor's lawyer, said he did eventually tell the whole truth during a third interview with FBI agents.
"At the end of the day, he did come clean," he said. "He did explain exactly what he did."
Outside court, Victor expressed relief at the sentence.
"I'm looking forward to regaining my life and moving on," he said.
Reach Timothy O'Connor at tpoconnor@lohud.com or 914-694-3523.
