LCCC fires professor for falsifying application
David L. Silbergeld's termination on Friday comes one day after officials were notified that he has been convicted of felonies.
Tuesday, Apr 09, 2002
By STEVEN A. MORELLI
Times Leader
NANTICOKE - Luzerne County Community College fired an adjunct history professor for falsifying his employment application, said LCCC President Andreas Paloumpis.
Paloumpis would not specify what David L. Silbergeld falsified, but the teacher's contract was terminated Friday after the Times Leader told the college Silbergeld has been convicted of federal felonies, including participation in a major cocaine smuggling ring. He also served prison time for another conviction while teaching at LCCC.
The felonies are the latest revelations about Silbergeld, 64, of Nuangola Lake, who came to public attention after falsely claiming he was a Navy SEAL.
His first significant conviction was in 1982, after he was arrested on Long Island, N.Y., in possession of 610 pounds of cocaine worth $200 million, according to court records and news reports. The New York Times reported it was the largest drug-smuggling bust in the northeastern United States.
Federal agents watched three men load into a station wagon eight duffel bags of uncut cocaine that had been shoved off a twin-engine Cessna at Brookhaven Airport in the middle of the night in June 1982, according to The Times.
Silbergeld and two others were arrested after agents surrounded the car and seized the cocaine, a machine gun, three grenades, several pistols and knives, The Times reported. The arrest culminated a 10-month investigation.
Silbergeld was already on probation from 1979 for collecting unemployment checks when he was actually employed, Silbergeld's attorney, Ronald Fischetti told the Times.
Silbergeld was convicted of cocaine possession with intent to distribute and sentenced to three to 15 years in federal prison, according to federal records. He was released in 1987 after serving five years at the Federal Correctional Institution in Allenwood, Pa., and placed on lifetime parole, according to the Bureau of Prisons.
While in prison, Silbergeld received a doctorate from a correspondence school that was later shut down by California state officials, according to testimony in his second major federal case.
Claiming that doctorate, Silbergeld began teaching history at LCCC in 1988 - the same year he and his night vision equipment dealership began defrauding the federal government, according to an affidavit. In 1991, when he learned of the fraud investigation, Silbergeld falsified documents, court records showed.
A prosecutor said Silbergeld and his company - Nite Optics - submitted false information to win a federal contract to sell night vision equipment, according to court transcripts. Silbergeld got an extra $60,000 by inflating prices and sold the government a different brand of equipment, transcripts showed. When Silbergeld learned of the inspector general's investigation, he created documents to conceal fraud, the prosecutor testified.
During his sentencing in September 1993, Silbergeld argued he should be sentenced to the minimum because of his military record. Among other claims, Silbergeld told the judge he served as a Navy SEAL and was a member of underwater demolition teams, two claims the U.S. Navy recently said were false.
Silbergeld was sentenced to the minimum of 15 months imprisonment for false statements and obstruction of justice, according to court records. He was released in 1995 and continued to teach at LCCC.
LCCC President Paloumpis terminated Silbergeld's teaching contract a day after the Times Leader informed Paloumpis of Silbergeld's record.
Silbergeld, who did not return calls for comment, taught military history.
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