COURIER L 12 IFE, APR. 30-MAY 6, 2021
Sheepshead pol
expelled from
City Council
Ousted after pleading guilty to tax evasion
BY AIDAN GRAHAM &
JESSICA PARKS
Chaim Deutsch was automatically
expelled from his Sheepshead Bay City
Council seat after pleading guilty to tax
fraud last week, according to the Council
Speaker.
“Based on our review of the charging
document and Mr. Chaim Deutsch’s
plea agreement, the Council has concluded
that the offi ce of the 48th Council
District has been vacated under the
operation of law,” said Corey Johnson in
a statement late April 27. “Mr. Deutsch
confessed to a crime and violated his
oath of offi ce. He is no longer a member
of the City Council.”
Deutsch, a conservative-Democratic
fi rebrand, was elected to the southern
Brooklyn legislative post in 2013, where
he has served ever since.
The pol — one of the most independently
wealthy members of the Council
— had pledged to divest from his real estate
earnings, where he made between
$100,000 to $249,999 on top of his $148,000
Council salary, in 2017 ahead of a new
law forbidding councilmembers to receive
outside income that was slated to
go in effect January 2018.
On April 22, however, Deutsch entered
a guilty plea to federal tax evasion
charges, stemming from falsifi ed returns
he fi led between 2016 and 2018.
According to prosecutors, Deutsch
avoided around $82,076 in money owed
to the federal government.
“New York City Council Member
Chaim Deutsch admitted Thursday
that he defrauded the IRS in connection
with his real estate business,” US Attorney
Audrey Strauss said following the
guilty plea.
Now-former Councilmember Deutsch
had long portrayed himself as a champion
of law and order, often aligning with proauthorities
factions of the government on
policing and prosecutorial issues.
Following his guilty plea, Deutsch
agreed to pay back the money owed plus
interest, and faces a maximum sentencing
of up to one year imprisonment, one
year of supervised release and a maximum
fi ne of $100,000 in addition to an order
of restitution.
Johnson’s offi ce announced that
Deutsch had violated New York State
Former Councilmember Chaim Deutsch.
Brooklyn Paper fi le photo
Public Offi cers Law §30(1)(e), which automatically
ejects a public offi ce holder
from their post if that person is voncivted
of a crime “involving the violation
of his oath of offi ce.”
Deutsch, through a lawyer, claimed
he was “evaluating all of his legal rights
and options.”
“Mr. Deutsch did the right thing by
admitting his mistakes and accepting
responsibility. This is more than most
who have served in the City Council,”
said the lawyer, Henry E. Mazurek.
The election to replace the nowdisgraced
pol will occur as regularly
scheduled next November, but the winner
could theoretically assume offi ce
prior to the regularly scheduled date of
Jan. 1, 2022.
Southern Brooklynites are no
strangers to acts of corruption by
their elected offi cials, with former
State Senator Carl Kruger pleading
guilty to charges of bribery and former
Assemblywoman Pamela Harris
who was charged with stealing federal
emergency funds after Superstorm
Sandy. Former Assemblymember and
current City Council candidate Alec
Brook-Krasny was accused of committing
healthcare fraud, but was acquitted
in July 2019.
The politician’s sentencing hearing
is scheduled for July 29 at 10 am.