Woman charged with forging Supreme Court judge’s signature

WHITE PLAINS – A Darien, CT woman has been charged by Westchester County authorities with forging the signature of a New York State Supreme Court justice.

Barbara Pisano, 40, was arraigned on two felony counts of forgery in the second degree.

It is alleged that she forged the signatures of Supreme Court Justice Mary Smith and an attorney, Daniel Chu, on legal documents, for the purpose of increasing the size of a parcel of land that she and her boyfriend, Robert Snyder, intended to sell in Cortlandt Manor.

One document on which she forged the judge’s signature granted her permission to acquire a right of way abutting some property she owned at 250 Lafayette Avenue in Cortlandt Manor. Before that, Judge Smith had denied her a motion for that right of way.

Snyder filed the false documents with the town of Cortland Assessor’s Office, Code Enforcement Office and Office of the Town Attorney. He also gave the forged documents to a real estate listing company so they could market the property as .43 acres, as opposed to the actual size of .34 acres.

Officials in Cortlandt uncovered the irregularities.

If convicted, Pisano faces up to seven years in state prison.