- See more at: http://blogtimenow.com/blogging/automatically-redirect-blogger-blog-another-blog-website/#sthash.Q6qPkwFC.dpuf Efrain Gonzalez Back in Court Tomorrow | Bronx News Networkbronx

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Efrain Gonzalez Back in Court Tomorrow

Former State Senator Efrain Gonzalez will be back in a Manhattan federal court tomorrow at noon for a pre-trial conference.

Gonzalez is facing nine counts of fraud and corruption for allegedly funneling more than $400,000 of state money for personal use. His trial is set to begin on May 4.

Two of his co-defendants, former Pathways for Youth Executive Director Neil Berger and former Gonzalez staffer Miguel Castanos, recently pleaded guilty to related charges.

The guilty pleas do not bode well for Gonzalez.

Berger pleaded guilty to federal program fraud on March 30 for sending state funds to the West Bronx Neighborhood Association (WBNA) even though he had "received indications that WBNA was using the funds from Pathways to pay for, among other things, former State Senator Gonzalez's personal expenses," according to court documents.

Castanos pleaded guilty to accpeting a no-show job that prosecutors say Gonzalez set up for him and then submitting fraudulent time sheets to the Community Association for Progressive Dominicans.

Gonzalez's lawyer, "Don't Worry" Murray Richman, was coy about what the guilty pleas meant for his client. "I guess they were guilty," he said. "My client is not."

Richman wouldn't comment on whether Gonzalez would be following his co-defendants in negotiating a plea agreement. However, he did say that he'd much rather be vacationing in Puerto Rico, but not in the Dominican Replublic (where Gonzalez has a home that prosecutors say he paid for with state money).

1 comment:

  1. Get over it already. The man is no longer in office. I don't really care.

    ReplyDelete

Bronx News Network reserves the right to remove comments that include personal attacks, name calling, foul language, commercial advertisements, spam, or any language that might be considered threatening, libelous or inciting hate.

User comments are reviewed by BxNN staff and may be included or excluded at our discretion.

If what you have to say is unrelated to this particular post, please visit our readers' forum.