FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, August 6, 2025
Former Chairman of Emergency Medicine at SUNY Downstate
Medical Center Sentenced to Up to Three Years in Prison
Defendant Admitted Stealing Nearly $1.5 Million, Used Business Credit Card for
Personal Travel and Purchases, College Tuition and Cash Advances
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, together with New York State Inspector General Lucy Lang, today announced that a now retired emergency medicine doctor has been sentenced to one to three years in prison. The defendant pleaded guilty in June to grand larceny for stealing approximately $1.44 million by using a business credit card for personal purchases and cash advances.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “This defendant was entrusted with a leadership role at a critical Brooklyn medical institution and violated that trust by stealing nearly $1.5 million. SUNY Downstate does vital, lifesaving work, and these stolen funds could have been used to support patient care and medical services. Instead, they were diverted for personal expenses over a period of years. With today’s sentence, the defendant is being held accountable for this serious breach of trust. We remain committed to protecting public institutions from fraud and abuse, and I commend our prosecutors, along with our partners in the Inspector General’s Office and the Department of Taxation and Finance, for their outstanding work on this case.”
Inspector General Lang said, “Our state funded hospitals rely on every dollar to provide care to their patients, and it shocks the conscience that a doctor entrusted with caring for our state’s most vulnerable communities would steal them to bankroll his luxury lifestyle. This case should serve as a stark warning to any public servant who would consider abusing their position of trust for personal gain. Thank you to my team and to District Attorney Gonzalez and his staff for their partnership in combatting public corruption.”
SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. said, “SUNY took immediate action and alerted authorities when these illegal activities were uncovered by SUNY’s auditors, and we greatly appreciate the partnership of the District Attorney and Inspector General, in particular, in bringing this matter to a close. With more stringent internal controls and comprehensive oversight systems in place, SUNY Downstate is now in a stronger position.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Dr. Michael Lucchesi, 67, of Staten Island. He was sentenced today to an indeterminate term of one to three years in prison by Brooklyn Supreme Court Danny Chun. The defendant pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree grand larceny on June 13, 2025. In addition, the defendant agreed to make restitution in the amount of $720,000, which included restitution of $63,926 to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance on the day of the guilty plea and restitution of $656,074 to Downstate Hospital’s clinical practice today.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, between December 1, 2016 and January 31, 2023, the defendant, a medical doctor, who was the Chairman of Emergency Medicine at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, and at various points was the acting head of Downstate Hospital and the medical school, and was the Chief Medical Officer, made personal purchases using a credit card meant to be used for business purposes only by members of the clinical practice, University Physicians of Brooklyn, of SUNY Downstate.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, the defendant’s spending totaled approximately $1.44 million and included cash advances of approximately $115,000; pet care totaling $176,000 (including $120,000 paid to The Greenleaf Pet Resort & Hotel in New Jersey); $348,000 spent on personal travel; $109,000 in payments to the New York Sports Club for membership and personal training; $92,000 for premium seating for sporting events, concerts and Broadway shows; $52,000 in catering expenses; $46,000 in tuition payments for his children; and assorted payments for online shopping, flowers, liquor, electronics and other items.
The thefts were discovered by SUNY during an audit.
The District Attorney thanked Investigative Counsel Thomas Collery, Senior Investigative Auditor Angelus Okeke, Investigative Auditor Victoria Oliva, and Senior Investigator Jimmy Gibson, under the supervision of Chief of Investigations for the Downstate Regional Offices Ben Defibaugh, Deputy Inspector General for the New York City Regional Office Ken Michaels, and Chief Deputy Inspector General Michele Bayer of the Offices of the New York State Inspector General for their work on the case.
The District Attorney also thanked the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, Criminal Investigations Division.
The District Attorney thanked KCDA Chief Financial Investigator Ludwig Sanchez, Financial Investigator Jose Carlos Covas, Assistant District Attorney Dewey Golkin, Director of the Crimes Against Revenue Bureau, as well as KCDA Detective Investigators and Paralegal Jezebel Negrete-Ugaz, for their assistance on the case.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Michael Choi and Assistant District Attorney Andrew Kohler, both Special Counsel to the District Attorney’s Investigations Division, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Michel Spanakos, Deputy Chief of the Investigations Division, and the overall supervision of Assistant District Attorney Patricia McNeill, Chief of the Investigations Division.
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