Ex-police union boss will get 2 years in jail for $600,000 theft

NEW YORK — The previous president of one of many nation’s largest police unions was sentenced to 2 years in jail Thursday for stealing $600,000 from a fund made up of contributions from members of the Sergeants Benevolent Affiliation.

Ed Mullins was sentenced in Manhattan federal courtroom by Choose John G. Koeltl, who mentioned he was balancing the 4 many years of police work and quite a few charitable deeds Mullins had carried out in opposition to the crime he engaged in from 2017 by way of 2021. Mullins was additionally ordered to forfeit $600,000 and pay the identical quantity in restitution.

Mullins, 61, of Port Washington, admitted the theft in January when he pleaded responsible to a spouse fraud cost.

He mentioned Thursday that he had “misplaced” himself in finishing up the crime.

“My remorse can’t be put into phrases,” Mullins mentioned. “I make no excuses. I made an extremely unhealthy determination.”

His cope with prosecutors known as for a sentence of as much as 3 1/2 years in jail, which is what prosecutors requested.

The SBA, which represents about 13,000 energetic and retired sergeants, is the nation’s fifth-largest police union.

Assistant U.S. Lawyer Alexandra Rothman mentioned Mullins had an outward persona of being the union’s fearless chief.

However, she mentioned, “Behind closed doorways, he was a thief, a liar.”

In October 2021, Mullins resigned as head of the SBA after the FBI searched the union’s Manhattan workplace and his Lengthy Island house. Weeks later, he retired from the New York Police Division.

Prosecutors mentioned Mullins stole cash partly to pay for meals at high-end eating places and to purchase luxurious private gadgets, together with jewellery. Typically, they mentioned, he charged private grocery store payments to the union and counted expensive meals with pals as enterprise bills.

His lawyer, Thomas Kenniff, advised the choose that his consumer didn’t dwell lavishly on his roughly $250,000 wage.

“This as soon as mighty determine sits humble earlier than this courtroom,” he mentioned, noting the disgrace Mullins should now endure.

Mullins declined remark as he left the courthouse.

In a launch, U.S. Lawyer Damian Williams mentioned the sentence reveals that “nobody — not even high-ranking union bosses — is above the legislation.”