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Hiram Monserrate Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for Fraud

By Mary Johnson | December 11, 2012 10:00pm
 Former New York state senator and Queens city councilman Hiram Monserrate has been sentenced to two years in prison for fraud.
Former New York state senator and Queens city councilman Hiram Monserrate has been sentenced to two years in prison for fraud.
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NEW YORK — Former New York state senator and Queens city councilman Hiram Monserrate was sentenced to two years in prison Tuesday.

Back in May, Monserrate pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges for routing $100,000 in City Council discretionary funds into a nonprofit organization he controlled and then using the money to fund his 2006 New York State Senate campaign, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

“Hiram Monserrate helped to underwrite his political ambitions with money that was intended to benefit those in need, and he corrupted his office in the process,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.

“His sentence should serve as a reminder that public officials who break the law will be forced to answer to the public they betrayed, and they will be punished,” Bharara added.

In addition to his two-year prison sentence, Monserrate, a former New York City police officer, has been ordered to pay more than $79,000 in restitution, according to the city’s Department of Investigation.

Monserrate was also convicted of misdemeanor assault in 2009 after he slashed his girlfriend’s face with a piece of glass.