Mayor of NYC Suburb Pleads Guilty to Stealing Campaign Funds

(Bloomberg) -- Mount Vernon, New York Mayor Richard Thomas pleaded guilty to stealing $13,000 in campaign funds and failing to disclose another $4,000 payment from his campaign committee, State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli and Attorney General Letitia James, said.

Thomas, a Democrat, will step down on Sept. 30 as mayor of the 70,000-resident city in Westchester County that borders the Bronx and will pay a $13,000 fine, the New York officials said in a statement Monday. In addition, Thomas may not seek or accept any elected or appointed public office or any position as a government employee for one year.

“By using campaign funds to line his own pockets, Mayor Thomas broke the law, and violated public trust,” said James. “New Yorkers put their faith in our public servants, and Mayor Thomas’ gross violation of that faith constitutes the utmost disloyalty to those he was sworn to serve.”

Thomas’s guilty plea resulted from an investigation from the Attorney General and Comptroller’s Joint Task Force on Public Integrity. Edwin McCormack, a spokesman for the mayor, didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

In January, Moody’s Investors Service withdrew its rating on Mount Vernon’s $23.5 million debt because the city hadn’t provided the rating company with sufficient information about its finances. Mount Vernon was previously rated A2 by Moody’s.

To contact the reporter on this story: Martin Z. Braun in New York at mbraun6@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Campbell at ecampbell14@bloomberg.net, William Selway, Michael B. Marois

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