Breaking: Moran guilty in FOIL case

Judge issues ruling, fine 15 minutes after final arguments.

Dillon Moran, left, and his attorney Ben Hill respond to the guilty decision handed down minutes earlier by Judge Jeffrey Wait, Aug. 29. 2025.

Saratoga Springs City Court Judge Jeffrey Wait found Commissioner of Accounts Dillon Moran guilty on all three charges of unlawful prevention of public access to records subject to the Freedom of Information Law, Friday morning Aug. 29.

After thanking attorneys on both sides for a professionally run trial, Wait told those gathered that the violation requires a specific intent to prevent public inspection of records pursuant to the FOIL and to willfully conceal such records, no matter how inconsequential those records may seem to be.

“I first find that the evidence is sufficient to demonstrate that the text messages in question are subject to disclosure under the Freedom of Information Law. I also find that Commissioner Moran knew this. Furthermore, the evidence shows that he was