First Defendant Pleads Guilty in Upper N.Y. Sweep

A former town official became the first defendant to plead guilty in a workers' compensation fraud sweep in upper state New York, according to New York State Insurance Fund. In all, 14 people were reportedly arrested in the operation, which targeted alleged fraud by State Fund policyholders. All of those arrested lived either in the Hudson Valley or the Catskills, according to authorities. The defendants included former Copake Assessor Harold Higgins of Columbia County. He pleaded guilty last month in Albany County Court to a class E felony of falsifying business records. Under a plea agr...