Former State Senator Efrain Gonzalez’s trial was once again moved back, this time just another week, to May 11.
Gonzalez is facing nine criminal counts of fraud and corruption for allegedly funneling more than $400,000 of state money back into his own pockets for personal use.
His trial was originally supposed to begin last May. It was then postponed until November and then again until May 4. Gonzalez could be stalling to negotiate a plea agreement like the ones copped by two of his three co-defendants. But his lawyer wouldn’t say whether he was negotiating or planning to negotiate any type of agreement.
Former Pathways for Youth Executive Director Neil Berger and former Gonzalez staffer Miguel Castanos, however, recently pleaded guilty to related charges. Lucia Sanchez, Gonzalez’s former secretary, has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to face trial along with her former boss.
The guilty pleas do not bode well for Gonzalez.
Berger pleaded guilty to federal program fraud on March 30 for sending state funds to the West Bronx Neighborhood Association (WBNA) even though he had “received indications that WBNA was using the funds from Pathways to pay for, among other things, former State Senator Gonzalez’s personal expenses,” according to court documents.
Castanos pleaded guilty to accepting a no-show job that prosecutors say Gonzalez set up for him and then submitting fraudulent time sheets to the Community Association for Progressive Dominicans.
Both face fines and some jail time and will be sentenced in June.
Gonzalez’s lawyer, Murray Richman, was coy about what the guilty pleas meant for his client. “It doesn’t matter one way or another. I guess they were guilty,” he said. “My client is not.”
Richman wouldn’t comment on whether Gonzalez would be following his co-defendants in negotiating a plea agreement. However, he did say that personally, he’d much rather be vacationing in Puerto Rico. But not in the Dominican Republic (where Gonzalez has a home that prosecutors say he paid for with state money).
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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.