Plea deal offered to former executive director of drug abuse counseling center in Clinton

By By EVAN WHITE

Story Created: Apr 21, 2008 at 10:28 AM EST

Story Updated: Apr 21, 2008 at 11:12 AM EST

UTICA - Ole Pettersen is accused of bilking nearly half-a million dollars from the State Health Department. Monday he entered a plea of not-guilty in Oneida County Court. The Attorney General's office is prosecuting this case, and says its ready to go to trial.

Pettersen's Attorney will soon receive documents in case he says the state has been investigating for two years. His client faces a total of 16 charges for allegedly cheating the Health Department out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

During last Fall's County Executive race, Pettersen expressed interest in running for the position. Now, he faces a count of grand larceny, and ten counts of falsifying business records, as well as five counts of using a false document for filing.

A plea offer was extended by the prosecutors, neither the defense nor Attorney General prosecuting the case would offer comment on the offer.

Pettersen's attorney - Frank Policelli - says he expects the case to be moved from a criminal case to a civil case. The Attorney General's office has not said yet whether that is, in fact, going to happen.

The case is being adjourned until May 19, when Pettersen is expected to accept or reject the prosecution's offer.
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