A Greece police officer is facing felony charges for allegedly trading sexual favors in return for letting someone break the law. Law enforcement sources tell us that Officer Gary Pignato was called to a residence in late August. The sources also say that Pignato arranged to let a woman get away with a probation violation in exchange for a sexual favor. A grand jury has indicted Pignato on bribery charges, and Monroe County's district attorney is outraged.
"To me it's very disturbing as a public official," said Mike Green. "We're held to a very high standard - we should be held to a very high standard. We take very seriously any allegations of someone who has misused that power, particularly in a way that allegedly violated the criminal laws."
Pignato faces up to seven years if he's convicted of the felony bribery charge. He also faces charges of coercion and official misconduct. Pignato is scheduled to return to court to face the charges in January.
This isn't the first time that Gary Pignato has been in trouble. Four years ago, a Greece woman filed a civil suit - accusing Pignato of using excessive force.
One of the first complaints was back in 2004, when a woman approached attorney Christina Agola with a disturbing story about the Greece police officer.
She told Agola that she had been pulled over by officer Pignato in a Wegmans parking lot. She was accused of running a stop sign. The woman said she was taken out of the car and brutalized by Pignato - repeatedly thrust into a metal shopping cart holder by the officer. The woman was four months pregnant at the time. Agola filed a civil suit on behalf of the woman, which was settled out of court. She spoke to her former client Monday, after Pignato was arrested.
"She says she felt sickened - she said if those allegations are true, I can sympathize to the position that person felt, in that vulnerability of being pulled over by a police car," saig Agola. "I've been in the position myself. It's a very terrifying position."
Greece Police Chief Merritt Rahn said there was an internal investigation into this incident, which found no evidence of wrongdoing.
Prior to working in Greece, Pignato was a police officer in Rochester and Palmyra.
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