County Executive Stole Campaign Funds: AG

NEW YORK — A county executive in New York was accused of stealing thousands of dollars in campaign contributions.

New York Attorney General Letitia James announced Wednesday the arrest and indictment of Rensselaer County Executive Steven McLaughlin, 58.

He was charged with third-degree grand larceny and first-degree offering a false instrument for filing, felonies.

James said McLaughlin, following his election to county executive while serving as a state assemblyman, withdrew $5,000 from his campaign fund and directed that $3,500 of it be given to one of his staffers to pay McLaughlin's personal debts.

The grand larceny charge is related to the theft of the $3,500.

The false instrument charge is for the filing of a financial disclosure report with the state Board of Elections on Dec. 4, 2017. At that time, McLaughlin claimed the campaign expenditure was for consulting, prosecutors said, even though it was being diverted for personal use.

McLaughlin was arraigned Wednesday in Rensselaer County Court and released on his own recognizance. Third-degree grand larceny carries a maximum sentence of 2-1/3 to seven years in prison. If convicted, he would be removed from office pursuant to Public Officers Law Section 30(1)(e), the attorney general's office said.

James said that elected officials are entrusted to protect and serve, but McLaughlin violated that trust by using campaign funds for himself.

"New Yorkers should have every confidence that the money they donate to their preferred candidates will fund that candidate's campaign, not personal debts or expenses," she said. "My office will continue to root out corruption at every level of government and go after those who abuse public trust for private benefit."

McLaughlin ran for and won the race for Rensselaer County executive Nov. 7, 2017. He resigned his 107th District assembly seat in January 2018. The district included parts of Albany, Columbia, Greene and Rensselaer counties.

Prosecutors said, in November 2017, there was a dispute between McLaughlin and a staffer over a $3,500 personal debt owed to the staffer, as well as his possession of the staffer's laptop and iPad.

In response to the staffer's payment demand, prosecutors said, McLaughlin had a $5,000 check drawn from the "Steve McLaughlin for County Executive" campaign fund, made payable to Hudson Valley Strategies, a political consulting firm he used.

The $5,000 check was deposited into the consulting firm's bank account Nov. 21, 2017, and one of the consulting firm's officials drafted a $3,500 bank check later that day. The check, the laptop and the iPad were delivered to the staffer, prosecutors said.