Former Brooklyn Assemblymember Pamela Harris pleads guilty to wire fraud, witness tampering
Also pleads guilty to making false statements to FEMA after Superstorm Sandy
It wasn’t until she read her statement to the court that former South Brooklyn Assemblymember Pamela Harris began to cry. It started with a waver in her voice, her head bowed down over a piece of paper as she read her account of the crimes.
Harris, who represented Bay Ridge, Coney Island, Bath Beach and Dyker Heights, plead guilty in federal court to four out of the original 11 counts on the indictment on Tuesday. She appeared in front of United States Magistrate Judge Robert M. Levy and admitted guilt to two counts of wire fraud, one count of making false statements to FEMA, and one count of witness tampering.
Sniffing periodically as she read, she described how she falsified applications for discretionary funds from the New York City Council and then wired those funds to her personal bank account. She recounted how she lied about living with her twin sister on Staten Island after Hurricane Sandy to receive disaster money from FEMA. She paused part way through her statement, saying “pardon me” to the judge, before telling the court how she told her sister to lie to the FBI when she found out she was under investigation.