Related Links: Tibor Varganyi Plea A co-defendant in a negligent homicide case stemming from a 2008 tower crane collapse that killed two New York City construction workers quietly changed his plea to guilty earlier this month and has promised to help prosecutors convict his former boss, James F. Lomma, who had owned the crane, court transcripts show. The trial had been set to start next month.Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Thomas Farber granted a request by defendant Tibor Varganyi, 65, former head mechanic at Lomma’s firm, New York Crane, to change his plea in a closed courtroom, but the judge refused

Photo by Tudor Van Hampton for ENR Trial of crane owner Lomma is set to begin in Manhattan on Nov. 7. AP Wideworld Crane accident killed two union workers in Manhattan in 2008; the rigger of a collapsed crane on another city site was acquitted of criminal charges. Related Links: NYC Contractors Face Manslaughter Charges in Safety Cases Crane-Failure Case Heading To Court Rapetti Speaks: They Made Me Out To Be a Murderer Criminal prosecution of the owner of a collapsed tower crane that killed two New York City construction workers in a 2008 accident will proceed next month, according

James F. Lomma, Under fire after a deadly crane collapse in May 2008, New York Cranes and Equipment Corporation owner  will face a negligent homicide trial in Manhattan criminal court on Nov. 7, but much has changed since he was indicted nearly two years ago. In March 2010, the District Attorney’s office unsealed charges against Lomma, 64; his former employee, Tibor Varganyi, 63; and his firms J.F. Lomma Inc. and New York Crane for second-degree manslaughter, second-degree assault, criminally-negligent homicide and second-degree reckless endangerment. Prosecutors blamed the defendants for the deaths of the operator, Donald C. Leo, and another construction