NEW YORK — The former president of one of the nation’s largest police unions pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the union to finance a lavish lifestyle that prosecutors say included upscale restaurants and personal items. deluxe.
Ed Mullins, 61, of Port Washington, New York, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in Manhattan federal court before Judge John G. Koeltl, who set sentencing for May 25 and signed an order which required him to give up $600,000.
A plea agreement between Mullins and prosecutors recommended that Mullins be sentenced to between two years, nine months in prison and three years, five months in prison.
Mullins resigned in October 2021 as director of the Sergeants’ Benevolent Association after the FBI searched the union’s Manhattan office and his Long Island home. The SBA, which represents some 13,000 active and retired sergeants, is the fifth largest police union in the country. He retired weeks later from the New York Police Department.
During his guilty plea, Mullins confessed to stealing money by falsely inflating expense reports between the end of 2017 and October 2021. He did not comment when he left court. But he stopped briefly in the rain so photographers could capture a picture of him.
In court documents, prosecutors said Mullins stole money in part to pay for meals at high-end restaurants and buy luxury personal items. Sometimes, they said, he collected personal grocery bills from the union and counted expensive meals with friends as business expenses.
His lawyer, Thomas Kenniff, said outside court that with the guilty plea, his client “took a big step today to right his wrongs.”
Kenniff said he hoped Mullins would ultimately not be tried for the criminal charge, but for the good things he did for the city and the NYPD during his career.
In a statement, US Attorney Damian Williams said Mullins reneged on his promise to care for thousands of police sergeants by stealing “hundreds of thousands of dollars to finance their lavish lifestyles.”
