Assemblywoman Pamela Harris resigns ahead of fraud trial

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April 3, 2018 3:18 AM

ALBANY, N.Y. — A Brooklyn assemblywoman who was indicted in January on a raft of fraud and corruption charges resigned Monday.

The assemblywoman, Pamela Harris, a Democrat who represents several south Brooklyn neighborhoods in New York, including Coney Island, is facing multiple counts of wire and bankruptcy fraud, as well as charges related to making false statements, witness tampering and conspiracy.

Her resignation was announced in a letter to Carl E. Heastie, D-Bronx, who serves as speaker of the Assembly. In it, she said that “recent events interfere with my ability to continue to effectively represent my constituents.”

Federal officials have accused Harris of a variety of schemes, including falsely claiming that she had been displaced from her home in Coney Island by damage inflicted by Hurricane Sandy. Prosecutors said she improperly received nearly $25,000 in federal disaster funds. She is also accused of illegally siphoning money from a nonprofit she ran, Coney Island Generation Gap, to pay personal expenses, including her mortgage and shopping trips to Victoria’s Secret. She has pleaded not guilty.

Her lawyer, Jerry H. Goldfeder, said Monday that Harris had served through recent state budget negotiations — which concluded early Saturday — and had “resigned to fully address her pending case.”

Harris, a retired corrections officer, was elected in a special election in 2015. Her trial is expected to begin in July.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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