COURIER L 12 IFE, APR. 30-MAY 6, 2021
He’s in Chaim out!
Sheepshead Bay pol Chaim Deutsch
expelled from the City Council
Chaim Deutsch, seen here pointing at a safety cone. File photo
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
Tuesday night statement. “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 pro-authorities 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
Public Offi cers Law §30(1)(e), which automatically
ejects a public offi ce holder
from their post if that person is convicted
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.
The election to replace the now-disgraced
pol will still occur as regularly
scheduled next November, but the winner
could theoretically assume offi ce
prior to the regularly scheduled date of
Jan. 1, 2022.