Former Charity Head William Rapfogel Allowed to Go to Work-Release Facility After Stealing From Nonprofit

The former head of one of New York’s largest Jewish charities has been moved from an upstate prison facility into a work-release residential facility just 14 months after he was convicted of stealing millions from the nonprofit.

William Rapfogel was transported from a prison in Sullivan County Wednesday after serving 14 months of a 3 1/3 to 10-year sentence for looting the coffers of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty.

The state Corrections Department said Wednesday that Rapfogel is moving to the minimum-security facility after meeting the terms of a work-release program. 

He'll be placed in the work-release residential facility in Harlem for about 10 days. Afterward he'll be able to leave daily to attend work. Eventually, the DOC says, he'll be able to return to his home on the Lower East Side.

NBC 4 New York has reached out to Rapfogel's attorneys for comment.

The attorney general's office, which prosecuted the case against Rapfogel, declined to comment. 

Rapfogel was the executive director of the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty for more than 20 years. The organization, which claims to help more than 100,000 New Yorkers a year, cut ties with Rapfogel in 2013, when allegations surfaced that he misused charity funding.

Rapfogel had close ties with Democratic leaders and was known as one of the leading nonprofit power brokers in the state.

He is known to have close ties to Rep. Sheldon Silver; Rapfogel’s wife Judy was the onetime Assembly speaker's chief of staff.

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