June 14, 2025
June 14, 2025
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A Staten Island doctor has pleaded guilty to grand larceny after prosecutors alleged that he stole about $1.44 million from SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn where he held positions of power and authority for decades.
Dr. Michael Lucchesi, 67, a former chairman of emergency medicine at the medical facility, faces one to three years in prison as a condition of his plea agreement, according to a news release from the District Attorney’s Office in Brooklyn.
Lucchesi pleaded guilty before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on Friday to one count of first-degree grand larceny, according to the news release.
Prosecutors alleged that Lucchesi, who currently is retired, used a business credit card to make personal purchases and receive cash advances. Some of the money was spent on a high-end pet resort, personal travel, catering expenses and college tuition.
In the past, Lucchesi served as acting head of Downstate Hospital and the medical school, and was the chief medical officer, according to the news release.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, state Inspector General Lucy Lang and state Department of Taxation and Finance Acting Commissioner Amanda Hiller announced the conviction on Friday.
“The defendant used his employment with a vital healthcare institution to gain access to more than $1 million to fund a lavish lifestyle,” Gonzalez said in the news release, adding that the “guilty plea is an admission of his violation of the public trust by using his position to steal from taxpayers and SUNY Downstate.”
“New Yorkers expect public servants, especially those entrusted with critical healthcare responsibilities, to act with honesty and integrity,” Lang said. “Dr. Lucchesi’s admitted theft of hundreds of thousands of dollars from the State represents a serious breach of public trust. This guilty plea is a clear message that abuse of public funds will not be tolerated and those responsible will be held accountable.”
“Let this serve as a warning to any taxpayers considering lining their pockets for personal gain,” Hiller said. “The defendant repeatedly took advantage of his position and is being held accountable.”
Authorities detail admitted thefts
The investigation revealed that between Dec. 1, 2016, and Jan. 31, 2023, the defendant made personal purchases on a credit card meant to be used solely for business purposes by members of the clinical practice, University Physicians of Brooklyn of SUNY Downstate. The pilfering was discovered during a SUNY audit, according to Gonzalez.
The prosecutor alleges that the Lucchesi’s illegal spending included:
• $115,000 approximately in cash advances;
• $176,000 in pet care, including $120,000 paid to the Greenleaf Pet Resort 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;
• Assorted payments for online shopping, flowers, liquor, electronics and other items.
Lucchesi initially faced a a nine-count indictment in which he was charged with first- and second-degree grand larceny, first-degree falsifying business records and third-degree criminal tax fraud.
The Advance/SILive.com has reached out to Lucchesi’s attorney for comment.
Past positions at SUNY
In 2016, Lucchesi was appointed officer in charge at the medical facility where he had been a professor and chairman at the Department of Emergency Medicine since 2013. He rose through the ranks after joining the medical facility in 1994, according to a news release issued years ago by SUNY.
The news release said that Lucchesi previously was an instructor for the Department of Emergency Medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in Piscataway, N.J.
The doctor’s professional career began in 1988 when he was an attending physician at Kings County Hospital Center in Brooklyn after earning a doctor of medicine degree from University del Noreste, Tampico, Mexico. He graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of science degree from Boston College, according to the news release.