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Updated 01/08/2013 05:30 PM

Former City Councilman Gets Five Years In Fraud Case

By: NY1 News

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Former City Councilman Larry Seabrook was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison.

The judge also ordered him to pay the city back nearly $620,000.

Seabrook was convicted back in July of mail and wire fraud charges but has long maintained his innocence.

Prosecutors say the Bronx lawmaker illegally funneled roughly $2 million in taxpayer dollars to nonprofits he once controlled and put friends and family in no-show jobs.

While in court, Seabrook argued with the judge saying any criminality his associates may have engaged in had nothing to do with him. His attorney added that he was only guilty of poor judgement.

In a statement, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara said, in part, "Today’s sentence finally vindicates the interests of the constituents whose trust he [Larry Seabrook] so casually violated by his fraud. We remain committed to making those who are corrupted by power pay the price, and the public can expect more arrests of politicians who have not learned this lesson."

Seabrook has been ordered to turn himself in on or before March 8.

He was stripped of his seat on the City Council when he was convicted.