Ex-NYPD inspector pleads responsible to obstructing probe of NYC mayor’s failed White House bid

NEW YORK — The former head of police safety for New York City’s mayor in the course of the administration of Bill de Blasio pleaded responsible on Wednesday to blocking an investigation into the misuse of metropolis assets in the course of the Democrat’s failed presidential marketing campaign.

Howard Redmond, as soon as a high-ranking NYPD inspector, pleaded responsible to 2 counts of tampering with bodily proof, a felony, together with misdemeanor prices of obstructing governmental administration and official misconduct.

He averted jail time below a plea deal reached with the Manhattan district lawyer that mandated his termination from the NYPD and the lack of roughly $250,000 in accrued advantages.

A 2021 probe by the town’s Department of Investigation discovered that Redmond, 58, had “actively obstructed and sought to thwart” an inquiry into his boss, de Blasio.

That investigation accused de Blasio of misusing his police safety element by bringing them throughout the nation throughout his failed White House bid and permitting them to function an unofficial taxi service for his grownup kids, in line with the impartial metropolis company.

De Blasio, a Democrat, has since been ordered to pay $475,000 for misusing taxpayers funds on the four-month marketing campaign, together with $320,000 that was spent on the flights, inns, meals and rental vehicles for law enforcement officials engaged on his safety element. He is interesting that ruling.

As investigators sought details about the safety element, Redmond intentionally had his city-issued cellphone wiped, reasonably than flip over its contents, in line with prosecutors.

On Wednesday, he supplied an apology the town company “for not taking the investigation seriously.”

Assistant District Attorney Samanthan Dworkin stated the felony prices introduced in opposition to Redmond ought to “send a message to public officials regardless of rank that no one is above the law.”

“The defendant’s obstructive conduct in this case ended his career,” she added. “He flouted the oversight authority of the Department of Investigation, he deleted messages from his city-issued devices and he was evasive with investigators.”

Redmond didn’t handle the courtroom past his apology and declined to talk with reporters. His lawyer, Louis La Pietra, stated his consumer had suffered the “ultimate humiliation” in dropping his job of greater than 30 years with the NYPD.

In addition to misusing his safety element in the course of the White House bid, de Blasio was additionally accused of utilizing police element to finish non-government duties for his grownup kids. The officers had been directed to assist his daughter transfer flats and regularly drove his son between errands.

The report faulted the NYPD for its lack of written insurance policies and procedures surrounding the mayor’s safety element.

De Blasio has stated that Redmond and different “security experts” made knowledgeable choices to make sure his household’s security each in the course of the presidential marketing campaign and in New York City. The Department of Investigations report, he stated, contained “many inconsistencies and inaccuracies.”