A taxi driver who pleaded guilty in January to overcharging on more than 4,000 trips to earn thousands of dollars extra was sentenced on Friday to 100 days of community service and five years’ probation. The driver, Norman Feiner, 65, was also prohibited from reapplying for his taxi license during his probation.
Mr. Feiner, of South River, N.J., was one of 32 cabdrivers to plead guilty so far after what the authorities called the largest sweep of taxi drivers who overcharged. In all, 59 drivers were arrested in September and accused of overcharging riders more than $235,000.
The authorities said that from November 2008 to June 2010, the drivers switched on an out-of-town code for fares on trips that never left the city. That code doubles the rate. Investigators tracked the overcharges by using GPS data that the taxis generate.
Mr. Feiner, who drove a taxi part time, is a retired physical education teacher who was a member of the Army Reserve for six years, his lawyer, Aaron Mysliwiec, said.
“Mr. Feiner is somebody who is a veteran,” Mr. Mysliwiec said. “He gave 30 years of service to New York State as a public school teacher, and I think that he, as much as anyone else, is disappointed in his own actions and sincerely regrets them. He’s somebody who’s really lived a life of honor and credibility to this point.”
If Feiner were a hedge fund manager instead of cabbie/retired teacher, and he were part of a group of hedge fund managers who stole millions instead of part of a group of cabbies who stole a total of $235,000, how much do you want to bet NOTHING would have happened to him?
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