Martinez gets 5 years for misusing funds

From the NY Times:

Miguel Martinez, once a rising star in Manhattan politics, was sentenced to five years in prison on Tuesday on three felony counts involving the misuse of public and private money, some of which was intended for nonprofit organizations.

Mr. Martinez resigned abruptly from the City Council on July 14, as federal prosecutors prepared to file criminal charges against him. Two days later, he pleaded guilty to the three counts.

Federal sentencing guidelines called for a sentence of 57 to 71 months. Judge Crotty sentenced Mr. Martinez to 60 months on each count, with the three sentences to run concurrently, along with two years of supervised release. Mr. Martinez also must pay $106,000 in restitution.

Mr. Martinez admitted that throughout his time on the Council, beginning in 2002, he stole about $106,000, a large portion of which was intended for nonprofit groups, including $15,000 for the Washington Heights Art Center and $40,000 for the Upper Manhattan Council Assisting Neighbors. Mr. Martinez also admitted that he had approved fraudulent invoices submitted to his office in exchange for $51,000.

Martinez pleads guilty in Federal court

From the Daily News:

In Manhattan Federal Court, Martinez admitted he had siphoned off $106,000 in public funds through several ruses, using fake invoices, shell corporations and bogus names on bank accounts.

"I received the monies as a direct result of the conspiracy," he said.

Martinez - who resigned suddenly on Tuesday - pleaded guilty to three federal conspiracy counts, including two involving mail fraud and one involving money laundering.

Under a plea agreement, he faces between 57 and 71 months in prison. He was released on $250,000 bond.

The disgraced pol admitted he was able to carry out the scheme "because I was a New York City councilman."

Martinez is first, but won't be the last

From True News from ChangeNYC.org:

When Councilman Miguel Martinez resigned abruptly yesterday in the face of federal charges expected to be announced this week, a whole lot of Martinez’s colleagues at City Hall suddenly got very nervous.

After all, Martinez, who is the first elected official to go down for his role in the long-simmering slush fund scandal, is reportedly going to be indicted for activities that appear to be almost standard practice among his fellow councilmembers. And to make things worse for his comrades-in-crime, Martinez appears ready to enter a quick guilty plea, which generally means that he’s ready to sing like a canary in exchange for a lighter sentence.

You gotta read the entire thing. It's good.

Martinez resigns over slush fund scandal

From the Daily News:

City Councilman Miguel Martinez resigned Monday as prosecutors revealed he's agreed to plead to federal charges after an extensive probe of a nonprofit group to which he steered more than $500,000.

The Manhattan U.S. attorney's filed notice a criminal information will accuse Martinez of a crime as early as Tuesday. It would be the first criminal charges against a Council member in the city slush fund scandal.

The notice doesn't disclose the charges, but indicates Martinez has agreed to plead guilty to the unspecified accusations.

Possible conflict of interest for councilman

From the NY Times:

New York City investigators looking into potential misuse of city money by nonprofit groups have seized documents and other material from a community organization closely linked to City Councilman Miguel Martinez, whose sister is on the group’s board of directors.

The group, the Upper Manhattan Council Assisting Neighbors, was founded in 1998 to help small businesses and underserved Latino, immigrant and low-income people in Washington Heights, Inwood and Marble Hill. But it received little city money until 2006, after Mr. Martinez’s sister, Maria Martinez, joined the board.

Since then, the group has received more than $1.4 million in City Council funds including more than $400,000 sponsored directly by Mr. Martinez, a Democrat who represents a large swath of Upper Manhattan, according to Council records.

Tax records list Ms. Martinez as the board’s secretary, an unpaid position.

And it's not the first time he's had a money issue.