NEW YORK — Former New York State Assembly member Ari Espinal was arrested earlier this month on felony charges alleging she stole more than $30,000 from a labor union, according to court records and a person with knowledge of the pending case.
Espinal, who remains a fixture in New York politics despite serving only eight months in the state Assembly in 2018, was arraigned on Oct. 7 on a grand larceny charge alleging she pilfered $33,245 from “an organization,” court records show. The records, which haven’t been previously reported, don’t identify the organization in question.
The person with knowledge of the case, who was granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter, told POLITICO the organization is the Mason Tenders’ District Council PAC, which has employed Espinal as its political and policy coordinator. The PAC is the political arm of the Mason Tenders’ District Council, which represents thousands of construction workers in New York…