Ex-Operative Gets Prison for Stealing from Mayor
John Haggerty is sentenced to up to four years.
Monday, Dec 19, 2011 | Updated 1:21 PM EDT
Getty Images
A political operative has been sentenced to up to four years in prison after being convicted of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from Mayor Bloomberg.
John Haggerty, a veteran Republican consultant, was convicted in October of grand larceny and other charges. He was sentenced Monday to a state prison term of 16 months to four years.
He was acquitted of a higher-level grand larceny count that would have required prison time.
Prosecutors say Haggerty conned the billionaire mayor into giving the state Independence Party $1.1 million to underwrite poll-monitoring in 2009, when Bloomberg was running for re-election.
Prosecutors say Haggerty did little work and used most of the money to buy a house.
Authorities didn't accuse the mayor or his campaign of any wrongdoing.
"Haggerty's fraudulent and cynical misconduct of the campaign finance system has now been punished, and his ill-gotten gains forfeited," Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said in a statement.
Photos: Metro North Train Collision
