A crane mechanic who was co-defendant in a negligent homicide case stemming from a fatal 2008 tower crane collapse in New York City quietly changed his plea to guilty last month and has promised to help prosecutors convict his former boss, who owned the crane and its rental firm, New York Crane.
The Oct. 5 plea change in New York State Supreme Court by Tibor Varganyi, 65, came about one month before his trial and that of his former boss, James F. Lomma, 65, were set to start. New York County Supreme Court Judge Thomas Farber granted Varganyi's plea change request in a closed hearing but declined to seal hearing records. “I will do nothing to advertise this to anybody,” he said. “I am also not doing anything to hide it.”