Rockland County, NY – 2 ½ Years In Jail For St. Lawrence In Ramapo Fraud Case

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    Christopher St. LawrenceRockland County, NY – It was the final nail in the coffin for Christopher St. Lawrence’s lengthy career as supervisor for the Town of Ramapo, with the longtime Ramapo resident sentenced to a 30 month prison term and a $75,000 fine for fraudulently financing a baseball stadium that had been voted down by taxpayers.

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    The Journal News (http://lohud.us/2Aj3l45) reported that St. Lawrence apologized for his actions.

    “I am deeply ashamed for what I’ve done to the citizens of this community,” said St. Lawrence this afternoon after being sentenced at the federal courthouse in White Plains. “This has brought shame to my family and to me. I stand here deeply humbled.”

    Lawyers on both sides of the case spent hours trying to determine if St. Lawrence’s manipulation of the town’s books to finance the baseball stadium, now known as Palisades Credit Union Park, cost taxpayers money.

    Original estimates by the United States Attorney’s Office placed those losses first at $2.9 million and then at $1 million, prompting recommendations of a sentence of upward of 11 years. But Judge Cathy Siebel said yesterday that the methods used to calculate that amount were “unreliable and inconsistent” and that even the $1 million amount was likely higher than the actual losses sustained.

    As previously reported on VIN News (http://bit.ly/2AlQxdd) St. Lawrence was found guilty on 20 counts of securities and wire fraud in May after just a day and a half of deliberations.

    In addition to the prison term and the fine, St. Lawrence faces three years of supervised release. He is also one of several town officials named in a pending civil fraud case filed by the SEC.

    In a statement released this afternoon, Rockland County Executive Ed Day said that elected officials must be held accountable for any misuse of taxpayer funds.

    “The fraud perpetuated by former Supervisor St. Lawrence was not a ‘victimless’ crime,” said Day. “There are many victims, both in the Town of Ramapo, in Rockland County and beyond. As a county, we can only hope that the sentence handed down in federal court today closes a sad chapter in Ramapo, the largest town in Rockland. As county executive, I support every effort to restore integrity to Ramapo.”


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    4 Comments
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    puppydogs
    puppydogs
    6 years ago

    Draining the swamp

    Sholi-Katz
    Sholi-Katz
    6 years ago

    You know who the TRUE REAL victims are – the Yidden living in the frum areas of Rockland county. Chris St. Lawrence, with blessing of the Rabbonim, destroyed our way of life. We came out here to get away from the city and all its problems, and now because of all the apartment houses he approved $$$, it now takes 25 minutes to get through Monsey. Not even talking about the shmutz and garbage.
    This stadium is not why he should sit in jail – what he did to us, he should sit 20 years

    6 years ago

    My bro Munch says there’s no point in jailing people. He would rather just have them pay a fine.

    ercsd
    ercsd
    6 years ago

    I was hoping he would get more jail time but I was afraid that he might get less than what he ended up with. I’m ok with the 2.5 years. It’s too bad Ramapo can’t return to its pre-St. Lawrence era. The man’s greed changed the look of the town forever. He allowed one family houses to be turned into 9 family monstrosities.
    One group in Ramapo kept voting him in. They had a choice to stop the over development but they kept choosing him. My thanks to the people in Preserve Ramapo. If he was able to be found guilty for all his shady dealings he would never see the light of day.