Carbone Speaks, Says He's D.A.'s DWI Scapegoat

Syosset's Joseph Carbone walked out of court Friday and blamed a form of reverse racial profiling–led by Nassau County District Attorney Kathleen Rice–on the DWI mess he's currently in. 

In his first comments to the media since his much-publicized arrest on June 9 for high-speed drunk driving in a Maserati on the Long Island Expressway, Carbone told Syosset Patch that he wasn't drunk that night and that he's in this predicament because he was doing a favor for a friend.

"Why doesn't someone write something nice about me?" Carbone said during a cordial but defiant chat while he walked toward his awaiting ride. "This happened because I took a guy who was drinking all the way to Commack."

Carbone, 49, insisted that he only had one or two beers that evening. He also denied bragging to the arresting officer that he was doing 130 after the policeman claimed he was doing 110, a comment that earned significant attention from the media.

Although Carbone has two prior DWI convictions, he said he had never been in trouble until the last few years. He added that he made a mistake in pleading guilty to the first DWI charge because he wasn't even in the car, then referred to the second case as "iffy."

As for the current case, Carbone said he is "way ahead of them" in relation to his strategy versus the prosecution, although getting an attorney has been an issue. Carbone appeared before multiple judges requesting legal aid, but was continually denied because he couldn't prove financial insolvency. He still didn't have an attorney Friday, and was given until Aug. 25 to find counsel. He was told that time is of the essence since a grand jury will be hearing his case soon.

Carbone, of 21 Coventry Rd., said he has had difficulty finding an attorney while caring for his parents and also trying to revive his financial planning business.

But he did have time Friday to say he was a victim of politics. He claimed cops told his mother that he was an unfair media target. And while he complimented the district attorney for taking such a strong stand on drunk driving, he added that he shouldn't have been such a priority. He described the bail the assistant district attorney was asking for–$250,000 and a forfeited passport–as "unconstitutional." Bail was eventually set at $100,000, which Carbone said is not proportionate with other recent DWI defendants.

"Kathleen Rice wants to make an example out of me, which is totally uncalled for," Carbone said. Later he added, "A guy lives in Syosset-Woodbury, a white Italian guy in a Jewish neighborhood.... They have to show, 'We're not just profiling Hispanics and blacks.'"