BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (WIVT/WBGH) – A former executive assistant and media relations representative for former Broome County District Attorney Stephen K. Cornwell Jr, was sentenced to state prison Thursday.

James M. Worhach, age 37, was sentenced for one count of Grand Larceny in the 4th degree, a class E felony. A charge that Worhach plead guilty to in January. Worhach was sentenced as a second-felony offender, based on a prior felony conviction for DWI in 2014. The sentence that was imposed specifies a maximum term of 4 years but permits Worhach to be released to parole supervision if he successfully completes a 3-month substance abuse treatment program administered in a secure facility by the state’s Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, (DOCCS). According to the sentencing, Worhach must also pay $5727.75 in restitution to Broome County plus a fine of $1,000.00. The sentencing was imposed by Supreme Court Justice Donald Cerio, based on Worhach’s guilty plea, entered on January 30th, 2023.

In his guilty pleas, reaffirmed yesterday, Worhach admitted to stealing thousands of dollars from the Broome County government in order to pay for unauthorized long-term parking for himself and then D.A. Cornwell in a commercial parking lot in downtown Binghamton from 2016 through the end of Cornwell’s term in 2019.

Yesterday’s sentencing resolved the second of two indictments that were returned in July 2021 by the Broome County Grand Jury charging both Cornwell and Worhach with multiple offenses committed in their official capacities while employed at the Broome County District Attorney’s Office. Cornwell was previously dismissed from the second indictment by court order. The first indictment was resolved on December 5, 2022, with guilty pleas entered by both Cornwell and Worhach. On that date, Worhach pleaded guilty to Criminal Possession of Stolen Property in the 5th degree, a misdemeanor, and Cornwell pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the 4th Degree, a felony. As a result of his felony conviction, Cornwell has been disbarred and is forbidden to practice law in New York.

The crimes were discovered in 2021 by investigators and staff members at the Broome County District Attorney’s Office, working with auditors from the Broome County government, and were presented to the Grand Jury by current Broome County District Attorney Michael Korchak. After the indictment, further prosecution of the case was transferred by court order to Schuyler County District Attorney Joseph Fazzary, as Special District Attorney, with the assistance of prosecutors from Schenectady County and Clinton County, due to the likelihood that members of the Broome County District Attorney’s Office would be called as witnesses in the event of a trial or trials.

At yesterday’s sentencing, Worhach was represented by attorney Adam Eggleston, and the Special District Attorney was represented by Schenectady County ADA Philip Mueller. Judge Cerio observed that the sentencing marked the end of a sad chapter in Broome County government and that the crimes of public corruption committed by Worhach and Cornwell were a stain on the community.