This could be the last chance for Glenn Griffin to stay out of jail while his case continues to wind through the federal court system.
After striking out three times in federal court in White Plains, attorneys for prominent Peekskill businessman Griffin are heading to federal court in Manhattan to try and keep their client out of prison.
Facing a Sept. 11 appointment with a federal jail cell, Griffin is seeking a decision in the U.S. Second Court of Appeals that would let him stay free on bail until all his further appeals are heard, appeals that could take several years and potentially go all the way up to the Supreme Court of the United States.
Griffin, 56, of Cortlandt Manor, pled guilty on Aug. 26, 2024, to one count of conspiracy to commit bribery and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, each carrying a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
He said then that he bribed town employee and co-defendant Robert Dyckman to let him dump construction debris and other material at the Cortlandt town facility at Arlo Lane during off-hours. Griffin and Dyckman were arrested on July 21, 2022, and the government charged Griffin with dumping several hundred truckloads of material from November 2018 to September 2019 during periods when the dump was closed.
Griffin then tried to withdraw his guilty plea but his request was denied by U.S. Federal Judge Vincent Briccetti on March 13, 2025. Dyckman is serving his one year and one day sentence in a federal prison in Pennsylvania.
This June 11, after an hours-long hearing, Briccetti sentenced Griffin to two years in prison. He was facing a possible term of three to four years by the terms of his plea agreement with government prosecutors.
Arguing for a new trial
Griffin’s attorneys took their first appeal to withdraw his guilty plea and go to trial back to Judge Briccetti in a court filing on July 21, 2025. They argued that his previous attorney in the case failed to provide an adequate defense and that Griffin did not actually want to plead guilty
However, in his ruling a month later, on Aug. 18, Judge Briccetti denied their request and upheld his sentencing decision, meaning that Griffin would have to report to prison on Sept. 11. “Griffin argues his appeal raises three such questions: (i) whether his guilty plea was voluntary and had an adequate factual basis, (ii) whether he received ineffective assistance of counsel in connection with his guilty plea, and (iii) whether his sentence was predicated on an erroneous loss determination,” Judge Briccetti wrote.
“The Court is not persuaded. None of Griffin’s arguments—either combined or in isolation—raises a substantial question of law or fact. Therefore, the motion must be denied.”
So Griffin’s attorneys filed their new appeal to a higher court, this time to the U.S. Circuit of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan, where a three-panel judge will consider the arguments.
“Mr. Griffin respectfully requests this Court stay his surrender pending resolution of his appeal, and grant bail pending appeal,” Griffin’s attorneys wrote. “Should Mr. Griffin not succeed on appeal, he will serve his sentence and thus the government will suffer no prejudice.
“However, should he prevail on appeal, he will never recover the time served in prison. Having satisfied all of the applicable factors, this Court should grant him bail pending appeal,” they concluded.
Two issues for the court to decide
Jeffrey Hoffman, Griffin’s current attorney handling his appeals, claims that Griffin’s previous attorney, Stephen McCarthy, pressured Griffin to take the plea deal the government offered and agreed to pay $2.4 million in damages caused by his illegal dumping, without proof of the actual amount of damage caused. Federal prosecutors claim that amount will be the cost to remediate the damage done to the adjacent wetlands owned by the Westchester Land Trust. [The dollar amount of the damages impacted the length of the jail sentence.]
In his rulings, Judge Briccetti determined that Griffin was adequately represented by McCarthy, that Griffin knowingly pled guilty, and that the amount of damages was accurate. The U.S. Appeals Court will now address that ruling.
While Griffin owns several businesses, including the Hilltop Nursery in Croton, the vast majority of his revenue and his workers resides in Griffin’s Landscaping and the contracts he’s won for many years planting trees in New York City.
When he was indicted three years ago, a court monitor was appointed by New York City to oversee the company and remove Griffin from daily operations.
According to William J. LaCalamito, president and controller of Griffin’s Landscaping, Glenn Griffin has not been an officer or employee or associated with Griffin’s Landscaping in any way for the past three years under the agreement with the City of New York. “We continue to operate Griffin’s Landscaping without any interaction with Glenn at all and will continue to do so regardless of what happens with Glenn’s case,” LaCalamito told the Peekskill Herald this week.
Griffin resigned from Griffin’s Landscaping on April 20, 2023, and, while still the owner, he has not been involved in any aspect of the operations of Griffin’s Landscaping since then. Kenneth Eade was appointed managing director of Griffin’s Landscaping on April 20, 2023, and continues operating the company.
New York City also required a surety bond to guarantee that Griffin’s would complete its New York City contracts after he was indicted. Griffin guaranteed the bonds with more than $20 million of his own money.
According to people familiar with the situation, Griffin’s current contracts with New York City running through a part of 2026 should be secure. Once he goes to prison, the chance to get future bonds to secure any New York City work he might bid on next year seems highly doubtful.
