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NEW YORK (AP) — The previous head of police safety for New York Metropolis’s mayor through the administration of Invoice de Blasio pleaded responsible on Wednesday to blocking an investigation into the misuse of metropolis sources through the Democrat’s failed presidential marketing campaign.
Howard Redmond, as soon as a high-ranking NYPD inspector, pleaded responsible to 2 counts of tampering with bodily proof, a felony, together with misdemeanor expenses of obstructing governmental administration and official misconduct.
He prevented jail time underneath a plea deal reached with the Manhattan district legal professional that mandated his termination from the NYPD and the lack of roughly $250,000 in accrued advantages.
A 2021 probe by town’s Division of Investigation discovered that Redmond, 58, had “actively obstructed and sought to thwart” an inquiry into his boss, de Blasio.
That investigation accused de Blasio of misusing his police safety element by bringing them throughout the nation throughout his failed White Home bid and permitting them to function an unofficial taxi service for his grownup kids, in response to the impartial metropolis company.
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De Blasio, a Democrat, has since been ordered to pay $475,000 for misusing taxpayers funds on the four-month marketing campaign, together with $320,000 that was spent on the flights, resorts, meals and rental vehicles for cops engaged on his safety element. He’s interesting that ruling.
As investigators sought details about the safety element, Redmond intentionally had his city-issued mobile phone wiped, relatively than flip over its contents, in response to prosecutors.
On Wednesday, he provided an apology town company “for not taking the investigation critically.”
Assistant District Legal professional Samanthan Dworkin mentioned the felony expenses introduced in opposition to Redmond ought to “ship a message to public officers no matter rank that nobody is above the regulation.”
“The defendant’s obstructive conduct on this case ended his profession,” she added. “He flouted the oversight authority of the Division of Investigation, he deleted messages from his city-issued gadgets and he was evasive with investigators.”
Redmond didn’t handle the court docket past his apology and declined to talk with reporters. His legal professional, Louis La Pietra, mentioned his shopper had suffered the “final humiliation” in shedding his job of greater than 30 years with the NYPD.
Along with misusing his safety element through the White Home bid, de Blasio was additionally accused of utilizing police element to finish non-government duties for his grownup kids. The officers had been directed to assist his daughter transfer flats and ceaselessly drove his son between errands.
The report faulted the NYPD for its lack of written insurance policies and procedures surrounding the mayor’s safety element.
De Blasio has mentioned that Redmond and different “safety specialists” made knowledgeable selections to make sure his household’s security each through the presidential marketing campaign and in New York Metropolis. The Division of Investigations report, he mentioned, contained “many inconsistencies and inaccuracies.”
De Blasio didn’t reply to a request for touch upon Wednesday.
