Brother Of Mount Vernon Mayor Had Bogus NJ Car Tags On BMW: DA

MOUNT VERNON, NY —A brother of the mayor of Mount Vernon, who is a city worker himself, is facing a felony charge after authorities say he was driving with two bogus New Jersey temporary registration tags on his car. Preston Thomas, 44, was ordered held without bail on Wednesday following a traffic stop on Lawrence Street, near 3rd Street in Mount Vernon.

Thomas, who had been driving a 2005 BMW 325 at the time, faces a second-degree charge of criminal possession of a forged instrument.

His attorney, Alex Ayoub, couldn't immediately be reached for comment.

Thomas, whose brother is Mayor Richard Thomas, has three prior felony convictions and his was license suspended. He demanded a felony hearing for Tuesday.

A felony complaint obtained by Patch says an arresting officer thought the two temporary New Jersey registration tags were fake because they were laminated and the font seemed different.

Preston Thomas also had four plastic bags of what appeared to be marijuana, the complaint said, and there was an "odor" of marijuana. He works for the city's public works department, monitoring trash, sidewalk and storefront conditions in various places in the city, the Journal News reported.

The agency's commissioner, Joseph Nigro, told the newspaper the traffic stop happened during PrestonThomas' break time and that his work duties don't involve driving city-owned vehicles or operating machinery. He had not been fired as of Wednesday.

Mayor Richard Thomas was accused in March of corruption, including using money from his campaign and inaugural funds, receiving gifts for personal expenditures, and lying about it all on election reports and ethics disclosure forms.

State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli accused Richard Thomas of, among other things, stealing nearly 13,000 from his campaign committee and funneling more than $45,000 from his inaugural committee for his own personal use.

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