Rep. Grimm resigns after guilty plea to tax fraud

Rep. Michael Grimm has announced that he'll resign from office, one week after pleading guilty on tax evasion charges.  According to the indictment, the tax fraud began in 2007 after Grimm retired

News 12 Staff

Dec 30, 2014, 10:17 PM

Updated 3,649 days ago

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Rep. Michael Grimm has announced that he'll resign from office, one week after pleading guilty on tax evasion charges. 
According to the indictment, the tax fraud began in 2007 after Grimm retired from the FBI and began investing in a Manhattan restaurant called "Healthalicious." 
Authorities say the Brooklyn representative concealed more than $1 million in wages and receipts to evade payroll, income and sales tax by paying cash to immigrant workers, some of whom were in the country illegally. 
He released a statement saying in part, "I do not believe that I can continue to be 100 percent effective in the next Congress, and therefore, out of respect for the office and the people I so proudly represent, it is time for me to start the next chapter of my life." 
Grimm won his first term in Congress in 2010, and was re-elected in November, six months after he was first indicted.
The resignation will take effect on Jan. 5. Prosecutors say Grimm could spend up to 30 months in prison when he is sentenced on June 8. 
Gov. Andrew Cuomo will reportedly hold a special election to fill Grimm's vacant seat.