In a development that underscores the continuing battle against corruption in local governance, former Bronx district leader and Board of Elections worker Nicole Torres has pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges related to extortion and mail fraud. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York made the announcement, outlining a scheme in which Torres demanded illicit payments from Bronx residents and fabricated documents to steal thousands of dollars, according to a report from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky stated, “For five years, Nicole Torres abused her position of public trust as an elected official and City employee by taking bribes and falsifying records in connection with the selection and placement of poll workers in the Bronx. Today’s plea highlights this Office’s commitment to rooting out corruption in local government, and to protecting the integrity of poll workers and our elections.” This illegal conduct, spanning from at least 2019 to August 2024 involved Torres requiring payments of approximately $150 from individuals for selection as poll workers, resulting in her pocketing at least $28,000, and working with other coordinators to falsify attendance records for "No-Show Poll Workers," a move that netted her an additional $36,000, as detailed by the U.S. Department of Justice.
As part of her plea, Torres admitted to both the extortion scheme, wherein payments were made frequently via mobile payment applications, money orders, and checks, and the fraud scheme, where she manipulated the NYC-BOE's Forms Booklet to falsely show that certain individuals worked as poll workers when they did not. The guilty plea encompasses a count of conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right and a count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, charges that carry a maximum sentence of 20 years each in prison.
Torres, 44, from the Bronx, is scheduled for sentencing on July 8, before U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil. In the meantime, praise was leveled at the investigative efforts of the FBI and the New York City Department of Investigation, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin M. Burkett and, Rebecca T. Dell leading the prosecution.
