Monserrate Gets Two Years In Jail

By Joe Marvilli

Former State Senator and Councilman Hiram Monserrate was sentenced to two years in prison for misusing city funds.

  The sentencing came on Dec. 11 in Manhattan Federal Court, the end result of Monserrate’s guilty plea in May 2012 for fraud offenses committed while he was a member of the City Council.

  The former official was convicted of misusing over $100,000 of City Council grants to fund a State Senate campaign in 2006, which ended in defeat. The money was directed to a non-profit organization he controlled, the Latino Initiative for Better Resources and Empowerment.

  Those funds were supposed to go towards running community programs, such as job training workshops. Instead, the Department of Investigation discovered that the group spent the funds on his campaign, paying workers to collect signatures for his 2006 Senate run.

  Reach Reporter Joe Marvilli at (718) 357-7400, Ext. 125, or at jmarvilli@queenstribune.com.