The previous president of one of many nation’s largest police unions pleaded responsible Thursday to stealing tons of of 1000’s of {dollars} from the union to fund a lavish life-style that prosecutors say included high-end eating places and luxurious private gadgets.
Ed Mullins, 61, of Port Washington, New York, entered the plea to a wire fraud cost in Manhattan federal courtroom earlier than Choose John G. Koeltl, who set sentencing for Might 25 and signed an order requiring him to forfeit $600,000.
A plea settlement between Mullins and prosecutors really helpful Mullins be sentenced to between two years, 9 months in jail and three years, 5 months in jail.
Mullins resigned in October 2021 as head of the Sergeants Benevolent Affiliation after the FBI searched the union’s Manhattan workplace and his Lengthy Island house. The SBA, which represents about 13,000 energetic and retired sergeants, is the nation’s fifth-largest police union. He retired weeks later from the New York Police Division.
Throughout his plea, Mullins confessed that he stole cash by falsely inflating expense reviews between late 2017 and October 2021. He didn’t remark as he left the courthouse. However he briefly paused within the rain so photographers might seize his picture.
In courtroom papers, prosecutors stated Mullins stole cash partly to pay for meals at high-end eating places and to purchase luxurious private gadgets. Typically, they stated, he charged private grocery store payments to the union and counted pricey meals with buddies as enterprise bills.
His lawyer, Thomas Kenniff, stated exterior courtroom that with the plea, his consumer “took a big step today towards righting his wrongs.”
Kenniff stated he hoped that Mullins would in the end be judged not by the prison cost, however slightly by good issues he did for the town and NYPD throughout his profession.
In a launch, U.S. Legal professional Damian Williams stated Mullins reneged on his promise to look out for 1000’s of police sergeants by stealing “hundreds of thousands of dollars from them to fund his lavish lifestyle.”