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According to the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Southern District, Thursday is the official start date of his 2 1/2 years in prison for securities and wire fraud and conspiracy.
St. Lawrence, of Wesley Hills, was sentenced to 30 months, which could be reduced by 54 days a year for good behavior under federal rules, was also fined $75,000.
The Federal Bureau of Prisons said they cannot say where the disgraced former political powerhouse will serve his time until he reports on Thursday.
“For years, Christopher St. Lawrence, as Ramapo Town Supervisor, misled municipal bond investors about the state of Ramapo’s finances," Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim said at the time of his sentencing. "At a trial earlier this year, the jury quickly saw through his years lies, and today, he was sentenced to time in federal prison.
"The integrity of the $3.7 trillion municipal bond market must be protected, and prosecutions like this one should put on all on notice that misleading investors in that market through fraud and deception will lead to prosecution and jail.”
St. Lawrence was convicted of 20 counts of securities fraud and conspiracy on May 19 following a four-week trial in federal court in White Plains. His conviction was a first for securities fraud in connection with municipal bonds.
The case centered on St. Lawrence's rigging of the town's financial books in order to receive lower rates on bonds to finance a $58 million baseball stadium in Pomona, a housing complex on Elm Street, and other town projects through the Ramapo Local Development Corp. He did not profit personally from the fraud.
St. Lawrence's attorney, Michael Burke had asked the judge to sentence St. Lawrence to probation while U.S. probation officials recommended 2 1/2 years in prison. Burke did not request a stay of the sentence until the appeal of St. Lawrence's conviction is heard by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
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