(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) A former influential Democratic official with connections to former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Clintons has been sentenced after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl.
Gerald Steven “Steve” Pigeon, the former chairman of the Erie County Democratic Party, received a 364-day jail term for the sexual assault of the child, the Erie District Attorney’s Office announced on Friday.
As reported by the Buffalo News, Pigeon was once regarded as a “kingmaker” in New York, having a close relationship with billionaire Tom Golisano, former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Pigeon will be mandated to register as a sex offender upon his release. Local prosecutors stated that Pigeon subjected the girl to a sexual abuse act between Nov. 2016 and Dec. 2016. The former Democratic official pleaded guilty to one count of Sexual Abuse in the First Degree on Nov. 6.
According to prosecutors, the girl attempted suicide twice due to the trauma. Assistant District Attorney Cathleen M. Roemer read a statement from the girl, now a teenager, during one of the hearings.
“I remember for the first year after it happened, I honestly didn’t know what actually happened,” Roemer said, quoting the girl’s letter. “I knew it was wrong and that it shouldn’t have happened. But I was a child. I didn’t know what rape was or what it meant.”
She added, “The day I found out what actually happened to me, I remember feeling so disgusted and scared.”
According to the Buffalo News, this marks the third time Pigeon will spend time in jail. In July 2022, he was sentenced to four months due to a federal indictment related to making illegal campaign contributions to former Gov. Cuomo’s 2014 re-election bid.
In that same month, Pigeon struck a plea deal with New York Attorney General Letitia James for bribing New York Supreme Court Justice John A. Michalek with tickets to baseball and ice hockey games, as well as jobs for the judge’s family members.
In exchange, Pigeon received insights into cases and lawsuits. Michalek resigned from his judicial post and received a jail sentence for his involvement in the bribery scheme, according to the New York Attorney General’s Office.
Notably, Pigeon worked for Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential election and served in the Clinton administration under the Department of Health and Human Services. According to Buffalo News, Pigeon was a top fundraiser for Hillary Clinton’s unsuccessful presidential campaign in 2008. He also assisted in Hillary Clinton’s initial intent to run for Senate in the late 1990s.
