Prosecutors can use statements in trial of ex-Halfmoon supervisor

PHOTOGRAPHER: Marc Schultz

Halfmoon town Supervisor Melinda Wormuth is led into Waterford Town Hall by federal and state law enforcement officials after being arrested on corruption charges in this October 2013 photo.

Prosecutors can use statements made by former Halfmoon town Supervisor Melinda Wormuth at her influence-peddling trial in September, according to new court filings.

The ruling follows a May hearing in federal court held to determine whether Wormuth was in custody when she initially spoke with investigators at the Hampton Inn in Colonie in August 2013.

Wormuth’s defense attorney E. Stewart Jones contended she was in custody, making the statements she made at that and subsequent meetings inadmissible because she had no attorney present.

Federal prosecutors contend she was free to go and she spoke with investigators voluntarily.

Chief Judge Gary L. Sharpe sided with prosecutors. He noted that the meeting happened in a standard hotel room and was held around a table. It lasted about 21⁄2 hours. She also wasn’t handcuffed or otherwise restrained.

Wormuth resigned as Halfmoon supervisor in November 2013, just over a month before her term was to end. She did not seek re-election that year after losing the Republican endorsement.

“Thus, under the circumstances present here, a reasonable person in Wormuth’s position would have thought she was free to leave the hotel room and terminate Meeting One,” the judge wrote.

The ruling now makes available to prosecutors a wealth of information provided by Wormuth as investigators wrapped up a lengthy sting operation against her.

Authorities say she went to the hotel Aug. 7, 2013, believing she was there to meet a mixed martial arts promoter paying her to use her political position to promote the sport. Instead, she was met in the hotel room by the FBI and peppered with questions.

Wormuth was charged after the investigation’s conclusion with interference with commerce under color of official right and making a false statement. The first charge is essentially extortion.

Trial in the case has been postponed repeatedly.

The most recently set trial date, Sept. 21, was reaffirmed this week in a new court filing.

Wormuth was charged after an undercover operation determined that she had accepted the money in exchange for writing letters in support of MMA in her official capacity.

Portions of a recording were played at the May hearing. In the video, Wormuth disputed how much money she received in one payment for using her position as Halfmoon supervisor for personal gain, but she knew what she did with it.

She didn’t deposit the $3,000 — she thought it closer to $2,000 — in a bank, instead spending it on clothes and other items.

She told the FBI that in her fourth meeting with them. That meeting was videotaped to consolidate statements she’d made in three prior meetings.

The video was recorded by agents Aug. 14, 2013, in a room at the Hampton Inn. She admitted to taking the money and then writing a letter under town letterhead to urge Assemblyman James Tedisco, R-Glenville, and state Sen. Kathy Marchione, R-Halfmoon, to support the legalization of MMA.

She said in the video she used text provided by the promoter and had her town secretary prepare the letters on town letterhead and send them.

She said she asked an attorney connected with the town if what she was doing was OK, and said she received approval. She was vague, however, about what exactly she told the attorney.