75 A.D.2d 953 | N.Y. App. Div. | 1980
Proceeding initiated in this court pursuant to subdivision 4 of section 6510 of the Education Law to annul a determination of the Commissioner of Education suspending petitioner’s license to practice as a podiatrist for three months and fining him in the amount of $1,000. Petitioner was charged in the Criminal Court, County of Kings, with criminal facilitation in the second degree in that he combined and agreed with others to raise moneys to be conferred upon a public servant with the intent that the same would influence the public servant’s vote, opinion, judgment, action, decision or the exercise of discretion of the public servant with respect to certain legislation pending before the New York State Legislature. On February 7, 1977, the petitioner, a licensed podiatrist, pleaded guilty to that charge. Thereafter, the Education Department instituted a disciplinary proceeding against the petitioner, which contained two specifications of charges. In the first specification, the department alleged that the petitioner committed a crime under New York State law within the meaning of section 6509 (subd [5], par [a]) of the Education Law. In the second specification, the department alleged that the petitioner was guilty of unprofessional conduct within the meaning of subdivision (9) of section 6509 of the Education Law. A hearing was held before the Hearing Panel of the Committee on Professional Conduct of the State Board for Podiatry and the panel found that the petitioner was guilty of the first specified charge, but was not guilty of the second specified charge. The panel recommended that no further punishment or action be taken against the petitioner by the Board of Regents. The Regents Review Committee agreed with the hearing panel with respect to the petitioner’s being guilty of the first specification but disagreed with the panel’s finding that the petitioner was not guilty of the second specification. The Regents Review Committee, therefore, recommended that the matter be remanded to the hearing panel. The Board of Regents voted to accept the findings of the