A judge granted a Republican political operative convicted of bilking former Mayor Mike Bloomberg out of hundreds of thousands of dollars two more weeks of freedom to care for his sick aunt.
John Haggerty was expected to surrender Monday to serve 1 1/3 to 4 years in prison after losing an appeal of his 2011 conviction last week.
But defense lawyer Paul Shechtman argued that Haggerty, 45, needed extra time to help his 85-year-old aunt recover from cataract surgery.
Manhattan prosecutors asked Justice Ronald Zweibel not to buy the sob story.
“It’s just an attempt to manipulate the system,” said Assistant District Attorney Eric Seidel. “His conviction was based on manipulation — it’s just another manipulation. He lives in Breezy Point and it’s nice to be at the beach in the summer.”
The state Court of Appeals upheld Haggerty’s conviction for conning Bloomberg into putting up nearly $ 1.2 million in campaign cash for an Election Day poll-monitoring effort in 2009. The GOP thief diverted $ 750,000 of the funds to buy his childhood home in Queens, prosecutors said.
Haggerty has paid full restitution and already served five months of his prison sentence. He returns to court July 21st.
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