A former Suffolk County employee who admitted taking cash bribes and manipulating official licensing records has been sentenced to prison for her role in a corruption scheme that prosecutors say undermined public trust.
Brianna Hassett, 33, of Wading River, was sentenced to 1½ to 3 years in state prison after pleading guilty to Attempted Bribe Receiving in the Third Degree, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced.
According to prosecutors, Hassett worked as an office assistant in the licensing unit of the Suffolk County Department of Labor, Licensing and Consumer Affairs after being hired in June 2021.
Investigators said that in January 2025, Hassett and her husband, Esteban Bermudez, accepted cash bribes in exchange for falsifying a Home Improvement license application. Authorities also alleged that Hassett accepted a separate payment to provide questions and answers from a proficiency examination required to obtain certain vocational licenses in Suffolk County.
“Public servants hold a position of trust, and any attempt to betray that trust through corruption strikes at the heart of fair and honest government,” Tierney said in a statement. “This office will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute those who seek to undermine our institutions through bribery or other corrupt acts.”
County Executive Ed Romaine praised the prosecution, saying government employees “work for the people” and should face consequences when they violate the public’s trust.
Hassett and Bermudez were arrested on Feb. 13, 2025, following an investigation by the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office. Hassett resigned from her county position on May 14, 2025.
She pleaded guilty on March 25, 2026, before Acting Supreme Court Justice Steven A. Pilewski. Bermudez, who was not employed by Suffolk County, also pleaded guilty and was sentenced on May 27 to five years’ probation.
The case was prosecuted by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Public Corruption Bureau.