Kris Alingod - AHN Contributor
White Plains, NY (AHN) - A little over two weeks after being jailed for having attempted to influence potential jurors, former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik admitted on Thursday to corruption and lying to the government when he was being screened for the post of secretary of Homeland Security.
The 54-year-old Kerik pleaded guilty to eight charges, including five counts of making false statements to the federal government. He confessed to failing to disclose $255,000 in renovations to his Riverdale, New York apartment by a contractor, Interstate, which had sought to do business with the city when he was police commissioner in 1999 and 2000.
Kerik was indicted in 2007 on the corruption charges, including his failure to report $236,000 in rent payments for a Manhattan apartment, and taking $80,000 in false charitable deductions in his tax filings. In May, he was indicted for lying to White House officials while he was being interviewed for a Cabinet post.
When he was being vetted for Homeland Security secretary in 2004, Kerik had told Bush administration officials that he had, as police commissioner, no financial dealings with the contractor that renovated his home. He also lied in an email he sent to the White House about the renovations.
Last month, Kerik's $500,000 bail was revoked after he revealed confidential information for his trial to a legal defense fund, an attempt to influence jurors, according to prosecutors.
Kerik, who was police commissioner during 9/11 and had served as Interim Minister of Interior of Iraq after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, faces up to 61 years in prison for all the charges. He has agreed to pay $187,931 in restitution, but may be ordered to other fines when he is sentenced on Feb. 10.
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