From Bob Kappstatter:We know the Bronx rental market's getting tight, but this voter fraud case - and the ruling - may just have to take the political cake.
It involves Nelson Castro, the Bronx Democratic Party's pick for the Sept. 9 primary to replace west Bronx Assemblyman Luis Diaz, gone to work for Gov. Paterson.
A judge's referee found that Castro and nine other registered voters list the one-bedroom Hampden Place apartment he and his girlfriend live in as their address, while 15 others list the Morris Ave. apartment of campaign coordinator Steve Santana, who ignored a subpoena to testify.
Referee Mary Lynn Labola found Castro's testimony "less than credible," and "incredible" he didn't know all those folks listed at his apartment, since most are relatives.
Despite all that, Bronx Supreme Court Justice Robert Seewald last week accepted her recommendation that the case be dismissed and that Castro, who could become the first Dominican elected to Bronx public office, remain on the ballot.
The case was brought by challenger Mike Soto, brother of Richard Soto, head of the independent Rising Voices Coalition. Richie told us they plan to appeal.
3 comments:
"Referee Mary Lynn Labola found Castro's testimony "less than credible," and "incredible" he didn't know all those folks listed at his apartment, since most are relatives.
Despite all that, Bronx Supreme Court Justice Robert Seewald last week accepted her recommendation that the case be dismissed and that Castro, who could become the first Dominican elected to Bronx public office, remain on the ballot"
Labola, Seewald, you are obviously dumber than dog crap or as corrupt as Castro and not afraid to show it. May both of you rot in a cell beside him.
Don't know much about da Bromx, but sounds like they have a clubhouse just like Queens, and once it selects a candidate to do its bidding, it will riegn in all the cronies and call in the favors clear a path for him.
ESPADA SURVIVES CHALLENGE
State Senate candidate Pedro Espada Jr. surivives residency challenge
BY BOB KAPPSTATTER DAILY NEWS BRONX BUREAU CHIEF
Sunday, August 17th 2008, 5:30 PM
Bronx political issues can sometimes be moving ones.
Case in point: controversial former State Sen. Pedro Espada Jr., with a house in Westchester and a co-op in the Bronx, last week likely survived a residency court challenge.
Espada, who formerly represented the East Bronx, is challenging State Sen. Efrain Gonzalez for his West Bronx seat in the Sept. 9 Democratic primary.
Gonzalez is due to go on federal trial in October, charged with siphoning $400,000 from non-profits he funded.
Last week, Special Referee John Ostermann issued a legal finding to Bronx Supreme Court Justice Robert Seewald that Espada legally lives in a two-bedroom Bedford Park co-op he bought last August.
Gonzalez, a Bronx Democratic Party stalwart, has the party's support, though he has leaned at times to the Republican side of the aisle in Albany.
Bronx Democrats, however, view Espada as a party pariah for sitting with the Republican majority and threatening to change his party registration when he was in office.
In the residency case, Gonzalez's operatives produced testimony from residents and the super of the co-op that they rarely saw or heard Espada, though they did encounter his wife and heard noises coming from the fourth-floor apartment.
They also submitted utility bills showing minimal gas usage, though Espada's wife, Connie, contended she cooked a number of meals for six of their nine grandchildren there. Both testified they spend only two to three days a week at the Mamaroneck house, which they said they have tried to sell "several times."
Gonzalez's side also submitted registration records for four cars Espada owns and mortgage and banking records, all tied to Mamaroneck or the Soundview Health Care network, upon which Espada has built a small fortune - and legal problems.
He was previously tried and acquitted of using Medicaid funds for campaign expenses.
rkappstatter@nydailynews.co
Who cares? the Bronx voters will vote out of habit for anyone with a (D) next to their name, even crooks like Castro or Espada.
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