Former CB6 Manager Found Not Guilty In Forgery Case: Report

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — The former district manager for Community Board 6 has been found not guilty on allegations that he forged documents to give himself more than $38,000 in pay raises, according to reports.

Craig Hammerman, 53, was hit last year with a 17-count indictment that claimed he had given himself raises over a two year period by forging signatures of board members. Hammerman, who had resigned the year before after being accused of stalking his ex-girlfriend, faced a trial on the charges last week.

A jury found him not guilty on all 17 counts Friday after deliberating for about four hours, BKLYNER reported.

Hammerman had served as the district manager for Community Board 6 for nearly 30 years. His position with the board — which covers Park Slope, Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Gowanus and Red Hook — is the only paid employee for the agency and pays about $122,000 a year.

The 17-count indictment include four counts of forgery, four counts of criminal possession of a forged instrument, four counts of offering a false written instrument for filing, four counts of falsifying business records and one count of grand larceny. Hammerman would have faced up to seven years in prison had he been found guilty.

During the trial, former CB6 Chairman Sayar Lonial said that he would not have approved merit raises for Hammerman, saying that he was frequently not in the office and failed to send correspondences to city agencies, according to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.

Hammerman's lawyer, Joyce David, had said that Hammerman never actually forged Reilly or Lonial's signatures, but used electronic versions of them he was authorized to use. She added it would be hard for him to get a raise without notice because city employees salaries are public record.

Hammerman had been arrested twice for stalking his ex-girlfriend before resigning. The stalking charges were dropped against Hammerman in November.