JudgeOrders Desso in to Pay in Moscatiello Case

See Updated story in Times Union by clicking link below...

Yesterday was judgment day for Lou Desso, a day that he could have prevented so easily except for his greed and corrupt campaign practices using his office to raise campaign funds. Because his attitude seems to be that campaign funds are like his personal bank account, he has kept money that does not belong to him, refusing to pay at least one vendor, Moscatiello's Restaurant and who knows if there are others. The total he must pay is $6,250.00.

A City Court Judge has ruled he must pay IN FULL, the longstanding nearly 3 year old bill for a fundraiser he held in July 2015.Above is a picture from that event. The facts have long been published in this blog. Desso had nearly 500 people at the event and paid $1300.00 listing it on his Financial Disclosure Report as a "partial payment" for the gratuity for the event. He never paid the balance but he understood what a partial payment was. He falsified his State Financial Disclosure Report by failing to list the balance as an "In Kind" contribution as required by law. When confronted by the Times Union about the issue he listed the unpaid balance as an in kind contribution, amending his financial report. Then he amended it again, deleting the entry, probably because he was told it was unlawfully high.( $1000 is the maximum contribution allowed by law.)

So there the twice falsified and incomplete report sits. Falsifying a report is a misdemeanor under State Law and Desso has yet to have that reckoning with the State Board of Elections. Desso failed to report the unpaid bill as a contribution as he is required to do and by so doing he attempted to steal the money from Moscatiello by also failing to pay the bill.

You can read the decision below and you can read a statement from North Greenbush Democratic leaders. Also you can read an online report from the Times Union.