STATEN ISLAND — Disgraced former Rep. Michael Grimm is set to be sentenced on tax fraud charges in Brooklyn Federal Court Friday.
Judge Pamela Chen will decide if Grimm gets prison time for his tax fraud conviction, after he underreported more than $1 million worth of profits from an Upper East Side eatery he co-owned.
He faces a maximum of three years in prison for the charges.
Last month, Grimm's lawyers filed a 138-page motion urging the judge to give him probation based on his military career and his role as a caretaker to his mother, his sister and former borough president Guy Molinari.
In the filing, Grimm's lawyers claim the former congressman merely followed the practices of his co-owners at the restaurant, Healthalicious, by falsifying taxes and only did it to keep the business afloat, especially since the Second Avenue subway construction project reduced foot traffic.
In December — a month after he was reelected as a Republican to represent Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn — Grimm pleaded guilty to the tax fraud charges and subsequently resigned from his post in Congress in January.
Former District Attorney Dan Donovan won a special election in May to fill Grimm's vacant seat.
Since his conviction, Grimm has been unable to find steady work, his lawyers wrote in their motion, and in March Chen denied a motion to modify his bail so he could travel to Europe for a "job opportunity" because she considered him a flight risk.
His sentencing hearing is set for 10 p.m. on Friday.
