The Queens political operative convicted Friday of stealing nearly $1 million from Mayor Bloomberg was done in by his “own words,” jurors said. Hit the jump to read the rest of the story.
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Emails from John Haggerty to Independence Party boss Thomas Connelly, in which he asks for dough to set up a poll watching operation on behalf of Bloomberg, turned out to be the smoking gun jurors needed to find the wheeler-dealer guilty.
“This day and age, emails, they do you in, they’re in your own words” said juror Stephen Conroy. “If you look at the timeline, if you look at the emails, guilty, unfortunately, guilty.”
Juror Michael Boice said Haggerty needed money and knew that the millions Bloomberg was spending to get reelected would be hard to track.
“That is what the defendant was banking on, the fact that a lot of money is being spent,” he said.
Haggerty barely flinched as the verdict was read. He was convicted of money laundering and second degree grand larceny – charges that could send him to jail for up to 15 years. He was acquitted of first degree grand larceny.
Later, Haggerty was ordered held on $250,000 and ordered to turn out his pockets before he was marched off – in handcuffs – to jail.
No friends or family were on hand to witness the final disgrace of the longtime Republican operative, who was expected to spend the weekend in jail before he is bailed out.
Team Bloomberg, which had been accused by Haggerty’s lawyers of campaign fraud, cheered the verdict.
“For months the defense has attempted to cast aspersions on Mayor Bloomberg and make him the focus of this case,” spokesman Jason Post said. “We are pleased that the jury saw through their cynical efforts and reached a verdict based on the evidence and the law.”
“John Haggerty abused the electoral process to enrich himself,” added Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance.
Prosecutors said Haggerty volunteered to help Bloomberg win a third term and almost immediately began pressing his campaign for $1.1 million to conduct a poll-watching operation.
But instead of spending the money on that, Haggerty spent a huge chunk of that cash to buy his brother out of their late dad’s home in Forest Hills, prosecutors said.
“This was a con,” Assistant District Attorney Eric Seidel said in his closing. “It was a scam.”
Haggerty’s defenders insisted Bloomberg was the real villain and that he lied under oath about never having a substantive conversation with Haggerty.
They said the money Bloomberg funneled to the Independence Party in 2009 was part of a “win-at-all-costs campaign” waged by the mayor.
