Former Spring Valley Mayor Noramie Jasmin convicted for corruption

WHITE PLAINS – Former Spring Valley Mayor Noramie Jasmin was found guilty by a federal judge today of mail fraud and extortion charges stemming from her arrest in 2014.

The former mayor, 51, was convicted by U.S. District Court Justice Colleen McMahon after a five-day bench trial. Jasmin will be sentenced by McMahon on August 7.

Jasmin was brought down by a sting involving federal investigators working in tandem with developer-turned-informant Moses Stern. Under FBI handling, Stern managed to capture damning audio and video of Jasmin accepting $5,000 from the Monsey developer, who opted to cooperate in exchange for leniency in his own $126 million fraud case.

Ultimately, Stern and Jasmin struck a deal wherein the former mayor exchanged her political support for a $12 million kosher catering hall and community center in Spring Valley for a 50 percent share in the offered property.

Jasmin’s deputy mayor Joseph Desmaret also found himself tangled up in the scandal when he took a $10,800 bribe from Stern to support the same project. Desmaret pled guilty in 2014 and faces up to nine years in prison. His sentencing is set for May 22.

Stern’s testimony eventually became the cornerstone for the larger “Corridor of Corruption” scandal that ensnared a host of Democratic and Republican officials who schemed to secure former Democratic State Sen. Malcolm Smith a spot as the Republican nominee for the NYC mayoral race. As an informant, Stern doled out more than $100,000 in bribes in exchange for the Republicans’ cooperation.