Someone on another blog put it right:
"You know who the TRUE REAL victims are - the Yidden living in the frum areas of Rockland county. Chris St. Lawrence, with blessing of the Rabbonim, destroyed our way of life. We came out here to get away from the city and all its problems, and now because of all the apartment houses he approved $$$, it now takes 25 minutes to get through Monsey. Not even talking about the shmutz and garbage.This stadium is not why he should sit in jail - for what he did to us, he should sit 20 years
Former Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence's fight to avoid jail time came to an end when he was sentenced to two and half years in prison and a fined $75,000 for fraud involving the financing of a baseball stadium.
Federal judge Cathy Siebel handed down the sentence Wednesday afternoon at the federal courthouse in White Plains.
St. Lawrence who showed no emotion, was also sentenced to three years of supervised release.
“For years, Christopher St. Lawrence, as Ramapo Town Supervisor, misled municipal bond investors about the state of Ramapo’s finances," Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said. "At a trial earlier this year, the jury quickly saw through his years lies, and today, he was sentenced to time in federal prison.
"The integrity of the $3.7 trillion municipal bond market must be protected, and prosecutions like this one should put on all on notice that misleading investors in that market through fraud and deception will lead to prosecution and jail.”
Rockland County Executive Ed Day said that while some might think the sentence was too tough, that the finding of the legal system should be respected.
"As an elected official, I seek to honor the trust that the public has placed in me in every decision that I make. I never lose sight of the fact that the money spent by government at every level belongs to the taxpayers," said Day. "I cannot imagine an elected official doing anything less. When an elected official is convicted of fraud involving funds that belong to the taxpayer, there must be consequences.
St. Lawrence was convicted of 20 counts of securities fraud and conspiracy on May 19 following a four-week trial in federal court in White Plains. His conviction was a first for securities fraud in connection with municipal bonds.
The case centered on St. Lawrence's rigging of the town's financial books in order to receive lower rates on bonds to finance a $58 million baseball stadium in Pomona, a housing complex on Elm Street, and other town projects through the Ramapo Local Development Corp.
The jury returned guilty verdicts on 12 wire fraud counts and eight counts of securities fraud. The 65-year-old St. Lawrence, who lives in Wesley Hills, was acquitted of one count of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud.
St. Lawrence's attorney, Michael Burke had asked Seibel to sentence St. Lawrence to probation while U.S. probation officials recommended 2 1/2 years in prison.
6 comments:
He should sit for longer than 20 years for what he did to our community. He ruined the beautiful time we all used to love!!
What a miscarriage of justice!!
Well. The community did this to themselves. He was just following the wishes of the majority of his voters.
Next time you spend 40 minutes driving at 2 mph down 306, past the piles of trash, litter and rubble, past the acres of downed trees, and crowded apartments squeezed onto tiny lots, one after the other like a prison colony, be careful not to run over the dozens of children playing two feet away from the road... take comfort in the fact that while your pleasant 'country Monsey' way of life was destroyed, as developers got filthy rich.... the former Town Supervisor, upon his release from prison, will be free for the rest of his life to enjoy the millions and millions of dollars he was able to stash away, GREASER GELT, while allowing every developer to build whatever he wanted anywhere there was a blade of grass or tree, the Egel ha Zahav to the developers AND THEIR MINDLESS ROBOT FOLLOWERS of the developer shvitzers and robber barons who run our town. DON'T KNOW WHO TO VOTE FOR? ASK THE DEVELOPERS; THEY ARE LOOKING OUT FOR YOU! hahahaha . Don't feel sorry for THE eGEL hAzAHAV. . You can be sure he is well provided for FOR LIFE. How about you? Did the developers and the Egel haZahav improve your life also?
St. Lawrence was convicted of Mumicipal Securities fraud. Fraud is rampant everywhere in NY State and municipal jurisdictions. When the Republican tax reform bill is passed and state and local tax deductions are eliminated or greatly reduced, the effect will be felt on those earning over $150,000 . When NY State and Mumicipal taxes are no longer deductible on Federal returns, those folks will realize what a great tax burden those NY taxes are. Those high earners, will flee NY state for states with no or low taxes. NY’s tax revenue will be greatly reduced and you’ll see a NY State and Mumicipal fiscal and bond crisis unlike ever seen before. Property values will crash. Get out of NY now!
Well, their Shabbos Goy took the fall for them.
What about the filthy bastards pulling his strings?
Abe - the word is municipal but you are otherwise correct.
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