Shirley L. Huntley (born June 29, 1938) is an American politician who is formerly a
New York State Senator
The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate.
Partisan compo ...
, serving from 2007 to 2012. Huntley represented
Senate District 10 in
Queens County, which included
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
,
South Jamaica
South Jamaica (also commonly known as "The Southside") is a residential neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City, located south of downtown Jamaica. Although a proper border has not been established, the neighborhood is a subsection ...
,
Springfield Gardens
Springfield Gardens is a neighborhood in the southeastern area of the New York City borough of Queens, bounded to the north by St. Albans, to the east by Laurelton and Rosedale, to the south by John F. Kennedy International Airport, and to the w ...
,
Laurelton,
South Ozone Park
South Ozone Park is a neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Queens. It is just north of John F. Kennedy International Airport, between Aqueduct Racetrack to the west and the Van Wyck Expressway to the east.
Adja ...
,
Kew Gardens
Kew Gardens is a botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its living collections include some of the ...
,
Broad Channel
Broad Channel is a neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City borough of Queens. It occupies the southern portion of Rulers Bar Hassock (known colloquially as "Broad Channel Island"), the only inhabited island in Jamaica Bay.
Th ...
, and
Lindenwood Lindenwood may refer to a place in the United States:
*Lindenwood, Illinois
*Lindenwood, Queens, New York
*Lindenwood Cemetery, Fort Wayne, Indiana
In education:
* Lindenwood University
Lindenwood University is a private university in St. Ch ...
. She pleaded guilty to mail fraud in 2013.
Political career
Huntley was elected to Community School Board 28 in 1993 and served as its president until the dissolution of the School Board in 2004. She was appointed to the Community Education Council for District 28 in June 2004 and was elected as its president in July 2004.
A
Democrat
Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to:
Politics
*A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people.
*A member of a Democratic Party:
**Democratic Party (United States) (D)
**Democratic ...
,
Huntley defeated then-State Senator
Ada Smith in a Democratic primary in 2006. She won the general election that year and took office in 2007.
On December 2, 2009, Huntley was one of eight Democratic state senators to vote against
same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
legislation, which failed to pass the Senate. In June 2011, Huntley came out in support of gay marriage and voted for the
Marriage Equality Act.
Prosecutions and guilty pleas
In May 2011, the ''
New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'' revealed that Huntley was being investigated by the office of the state New York State Attorney General
Eric Schneiderman
Eric Tradd Schneiderman (born December 31, 1954) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 65th Attorney General of New York from 2011 until his resignation in May 2018. Schneiderman, a member of the Democratic Party, spent ten year ...
for allegedly running a taxpayer-funded fraudulent charity.
Huntley called an emergency press conference at her home in
Jamaica, Queens on August 25, 2012. She revealed that she expected to be arrested on Monday August 27 in the state’s continuing investigation into the use of
pork-barrel
''Pork barrel'', or simply ''pork'', is a metaphor for the appropriation of government spending for localized projects secured solely or primarily to bring money to a representative's district.
The usage originated in American English, and i ...
grants by legislators. Huntley founded a nonprofit social service and education group that was investigated by the Attorney General Schneiderman, and she funded it in part with state grants. Huntley turned herself in to the Nassau County District Attorney's office in
Mineola at 7:45 a.m. on August 27, 2012.
On January 30, 2013, Huntley appeared in federal court in Brooklyn and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit
mail fraud
Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical or electronic mail system to defraud another, and are federal crimes there. Jurisdiction is claimed by the federal government if the illegal activity ...
for embezzling $87,000 in state grant funding from the Parent Information Network, a
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
non-profit organization.
Huntley later pleaded guilty in state court to a charge of falsifying evidence. She was sentenced to a year and a day in prison on the federal charge.
In May 2013, ''The New York Times'' reported that Huntley's "secret recordings of some of New York’s most prominent politicians heightened concerns about widespread corruption in Albany".
See also
*
2009 New York State Senate leadership crisis
References
External links
New York State Senate: Shirley L. Huntley official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Huntley, Shirley L.
1938 births
Living people
People from Queens, New York
African-American women in politics
Women state legislators in New York (state)
Democratic Party New York (state) state senators
American politicians convicted of fraud
Politicians convicted of embezzlement
New York (state) politicians convicted of corruption
New York (state) politicians convicted of crimes
African-American state legislators in New York (state)
21st-century American politicians
21st-century American women politicians
21st-century American criminals
21st-century African-American women
21st-century African-American politicians
20th-century African-American people
20th-century African-American women