New York banana mogul convicted of embezzling retirement funds

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A former Long Island banana importer already convicted of engaging in a cocaine distribution scheme was found guilty on Friday of stealing more than $750,000 from his employees' retirement plan.

Thomas Hoey, 48, owner of now-bankrupt Long Island Banana Corp, was found guilty by a federal jury in Manhattan on charges including pension embezzlement and wire fraud, federal prosecutors said.

Dominic Amorosa, Hoey's lawyer, said his client "is disappointed in the verdict and intends to appeal." At trial, he argued the money was not stolen but was borrowed by the company, which was facing financial problems.

Hoey's conviction came less than a year after he was sentenced to 12-1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to running a cocaine distribution scheme that authorities said led to the death of a woman who joined him in a three-way sex party.

The April 2015 federal sentence came two months after Hoey was ordered to serve one to four years in prison for beating his girlfriend in 2012. A state court jury found him guilty of third-degree assault and tampering with evidence in that case.

In the latest case, prosecutors said that from 2009 to 2012, Hoey transferred almost all of the assets in his company's employee benefit plan to corporate accounts.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristy Greenberg said in her opening statement that Hoey then used the money to pay for the company's expenses and "to line his own pockets."

Greenberg said that during that time, Hoey took trips to England, Spain, Mexico and Aruba, spent large sums on fine dining and concerts, and stayed in luxury hotels in Manhattan and Long Island despite having residences in both places.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York)