Rochester Mayor Warren indicted for campaign fundraising abuses

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2020/10/02/rochester-mayor-warren-indicted-for-campaign-fundraising-abuses/

Rochester Mayor Warren indicted for campaign fundraising abuses
By Carl Campanile and Bernadette Hogan
October 2, 2020 | 5:27pm

Mayor Lovely Warren AP


Embattled Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren has been indicted on campaign finance charges.

The leader of New York State’s third largest city was already under fire for her administration’s handling of the facts surrounding the death of Daniel Prude, who died after being restrained in a spit hood while in police custody.

Monroe County DA Sandra Doorley Friday slapped Warren with two campaign finance charges — scheming to defraud in the first degree and an election law violation.

The indictment claims she had donors exceed campaign contribution limits, limited to $8,500 per donor, during Lovely’s successful 2017 re-election bid.

Warren was running a campaign account and a separate political action committee, Warren for a Strong Rochester PAC, both allegedly aiding her re-election.

Twenty eight donors made contributions to both committees, exceeding contribution limits.

One of the complainants who blew the whistle on Lovely Warren’s suspicious fundraising at the time was her rival for mayor, Monroe County legislator Rachel Barnhart.

“We need to make sure elected officials are acting in the public interest, not in their own interests and the interests of their donors,” Barnhart said in a tweet.

“Campaign finance laws exist to protect our elections and make sure there is transparency. The magnitude of these allegations is nothing short of cheating.”

The Warren indictment — coupled with the controversy and protests surrounding Daniel Prude case — “will plunge our city further into turmoil,” Barnhart said.

Warren can remain in office while she fights the charges. She would have to vacate the office if convicted of a felony.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo office declined comment on whether Warren — whose name was once floated to be a potential running mate for Cuomo — should resign.

New York State Democratic Party chairman Jay Jacobs said he would not ask Warren to resign while she defends herself.

State GOP chairman Nick Langworthy said, “Another corrupt Democrat who thinks the campaign finance laws don’t apply to them. She’s been a terrible mayor and the whole country has seen that on full display.”

 

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2020/10/05/rochester-mayor-lovely-warren-arraigned-on-campaign-finance-charges/

Embattled Rochester mayor arraigned on campaign-finance charges
By Rebecca Rosenberg
October 5, 2020 | 5:16pm

Beleaguered Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren — whose administration came under fire for mishandling the case of a black man who died in police custody — was arraigned Monday afternoon on unrelated campaign finance charges.

Her lawyer, Joseph Damelio, entered a plea of not guilty on her behalf in the Monroe County Hall of Justice to one count each of scheme to defraud and an election-law violation for allegedly evading campaign contribution limits while running for a second term in 2017.

Lovely, wearing glasses, a mask and a white coat, sat behind her attorney in the first row of the gallery during the proceeding.

Cayuga County Judge Thomas Leone ordered Warren released on her own recognizance after prosecutors said the crimes for which she’s charged are not eligible for bail.

“Obviously it goes without saying you cannot be getting into any trouble at all along the way,” Leone cautioned the mayor.

The Monroe County District Attorney’s Office unsealed the indictment last week against Warren, a Democrat, and two associates Albert Jones Jr., her campaign treasurer, and Rosiland Brooks Harris, her finance director.

The indictment alleges that Warren and her co-defendants encouraged 28 donors to exceed $8,500 campaign-contribution limits. The donors gave to her campaign account and a separate political action committee — both to aid her re-election.

Jones and Harris were also arraigned Monday, with their lawyers entering pleas of not-guilty on their behalf. They were released without bail.

The DA began investigating Warren years ago after her opponent in the Democratic mayoral primary, Monroe County legislator Rachel Barnhart, reported her rival’s suspicious fundraising to authorities.

The charges come after Warren was already under scrutiny for the death of Daniel Prude, 41, which sparked days of protests and plunged the state’s third-largest city into chaos.

In March, cops found a naked Prude on a Rochester street in the midst of a psychotic break. Bodycam footage shows officers place a mesh “spit hood” over his head and push him into the pavement until he goes limp — all while laughing. He was later declared brain dead and taken off life support.

 

[The Bobster]

https://nypost.com/2021/10/05/rochester-mayor-lovely-warren-to-resign-after-accepting-plea-deal/​

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Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren to resign after accepting plea deal​

By
Joshua Rhett Miller


October 5, 2021 9:28am
Updated

Warren is expected to be replaced by Deputy Mayor James Smith. AP Photo/Adrian Kraus

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Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren has agreed to resign for violating state election law during her 2017 run for re-election and will leave office by Dec. 1.
Warren, 44, was readying Monday for what was expected to be a month-long trial on felony charges that she and two assistants violated campaign contribution limits, but she pleaded guilty to a single misdemeanor, admitting that she knowingly exceeded the $8,557 limit, the Democrat & Chronicle reported.
By admitting to the charge, the city’s first black woman elected as mayor avoids the likely loss of her law license and immediate removal from office.
Warren’s co-defendants, campaign treasurer Albert Jones Jr. and Rosiland Brooks-Harris, treasurer of political action committee Warren for a Strong Rochester, also pleaded guilty to accepting campaign contributions that exceeded legal limits, the newspaper reported.
Warren, who declined to comment to reporters while leaving court, is expected to be replaced by Deputy Mayor James Smith. City Councilman Malik Evans, who beat Warren in a Democratic primary earlier this year, is then expected to take office on Jan. 1, the Democrat & Chronicle reported.
Warren thanked the residents of Rochester in a Facebook post late Monday.
“Leaving the past behind and looking forward to a brighter future,” Warren wrote. “We’ve accomplished a lot together, but in the end, I thank God that I’m able to choose family over everything.”
Warren, Jones and Brooks-Harris had faced up to four years in state prison if convicted on the felony charge, according to WHAM. But a judge sentenced all three to a year-long conditional discharge, meaning they could face additional penalties if they commit additional crimes during that period, the Democrat & Chronicle reported.

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Monroe County prosecutors did not recommend the conditional discharge, leaving the sentencing decision to Judge Thomas Leone. Attorneys for Warren had previously denied evading campaign finance rules, blaming the errors on poor bookkeeping and inadvertent errors.
Prosecutors didn’t specify the scope of the alleged fraud other than to say it was in the “hundreds of thousands of dollars.” The PAC had raised about $350,000, the Democrat & Chronicle reported.
Warren’s plea deal Monday also resolved separate gun and child endangerment charges. In July, a grand jury indicted her and her estranged husband, Timothy Granison, with criminal possession of a firearm and endangering the welfare of a child and failure to lock or secure firearms in a dwelling, the newspaper reported.
The allegations were connected to a raid of their home in May that police said led to the seizure of 2 kilos of cocaine and a rifle and a pistol at the home, where their 10-year-old daughter was found alone. Both Warren and Granison had pleaded not guilty to the gun and child endangerment charges, while she was not implicated in the alleged drug-trafficking network linked to her estranged husband.
Warren’s home was searched by police this past May.Jamie Germano/Democrat & Chronicle via AP
Warren, who previously claimed prosecutors had been eyeing her in a “witch hunt,” said her guilty plea Monday was an effort to serve her “daughter’s best interest,” the Democrat & Chronicle reported.
District Attorney Sandra Doorley said Monday’s resolution was “fair and just” after a thorough review of the evidence against Warren, Jones and Brooks-Harris.
“Moving forward, the ramifications of the mayor’s conduct spans beyond the criminal justice system,” Doorley said in a statement. “This is an important step in our larger efforts in promoting ethical elections in our state.”
Police seized 2 kilos of cocaine and a rifle and a pistol at Warren’s home in May.\Jamie Germano/Democrat & Chronicle via AP
Warren had also faced criticism for the city’s handling of the suffocation death of Daniel Prude, a black man who died in March 2020 a week after being held by cops against the pavement until he stopped breathing.
A grand jury voted in February not to indict the Rochester officers involved, although Officer Mark Vaughn, who was seen on bodycam footage pressing Prude’s face against the pavement for more than two minutes, was served with “departmental charges” in September.