Three Western New York political operatives have been indicted by a grand jury on felony election law charges, according to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
Steve Pigeon, Kristy Mazurek and David Pfaff are each accused of unlawful coordination with candidates for the Erie County Legislature.
The indictment states that Pigeon, Mazurek, and Pfaff are alleged to have knowingly and willfully engaged in illegal campaign coordination while acting on behalf of the Western New York Progressive Caucus (WNYPC) and Western New York Freedom (WNYF), groups that are considered “unauthorized political committees.”
All three people were previously arraigned on a felony complaint on the same charges back in April.
According to Pigeon's attorney Paul Cambria, there will be an arraignment to follow and then the trial.
“This is just the next stage in the process,” said Cambria.
“Today’s indictment sends a clear message that we’ll continue to aggressively enforce our state’s election and campaign finance laws,” said Schneiderman in a statement. “As we allege, the defendants illegally coordinated with their own handpicked candidates for office, using a political committee to circumvent the law and undermine the integrity of our elections. These actions aren’t just illegal – they erode the public trust, and we intend to hold them accountable.”
If convicted on any counts, each would face the maximum sentence of four years in prison.
