Vito's sidekick gets probation

From the NY Post:

A political ally of embattled Brooklyn Assemblyman Vito Lopez got her wrist slapped yesterday for lying to the feds about her exorbitant pay for running a nonprofit Lopez founded.

Christiana Fisher was sentenced to a year of probation after pleading guilty to criminal contempt — a charge that carries up to a six-month jail sentence.

Manhattan federal Magistrate Judge James Francis IV — who cited Fisher’s “lifetime record of good works” — also ordered her to pay a $2,500 fine and forfeit the $170,000 in compensation at issue in the case.

Fisher admitted knowing documents given to the FBI falsely claimed the Ridgewood-Bushwick Senior Citizens Council board of directors had approved boosting her annual pay package to $782,000.

Fisher has served as campaign treasurer for Lopez, a council candidate and ex-Brooklyn Democratic boss. accused of sexually harassing female Assembly aides.

From the NY Times:

Prosecutors did not ask Judge Francis to send Ms. Fisher to jail, but requested in their own memorandum that he “recognize the seriousness of the offense.” An assistant United States attorney, Carrie H. Cohen, elaborated in court, saying that Ms. Fisher had not simply provided an untruthful answer when questioned unexpectedly, but had engaged in a more deliberate deceit.

“This is a case where the defendant created false compensation documents or got false compensation documents to be created,” she said. “She set in motion a very detailed and somewhat sophisticated fraud.”

Lopez' tweeding pal pleads guilty

From the Daily News:

The right-hand woman of disgraced Brooklyn Democratic boss Vito Lopez pleaded guilty Thursday to a criminal charge of lying to federal investigators.

But Lopez wasn't in Manhattan federal court to see Christiana Fisher take a fall. 
Instead, Lopez's gal pal, Angela Battaglia, was in the courtroom when a black-clad Fisher admitted fibbing to the feds about the bloated $607,024 salary she was being paid to run the Lopez-founded non-profit, Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Center Council.

"I was aware of forged documents and tax filings that inaccurately stated that the board of directors of the Ridgewood-Bushwick Senior Citizens Council had approved increases to my salary," she said. "I knew it was improper."

Fisher, who pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of filing false information in response to a subpoena from the Manhattan U.S. attorney, also agreed to forfeit $170,659 in salary she got by cooking the books.

It was the only charge against Fisher, who also was Lopez's campaign manager. She faced a maximum sentence of six months in jail.