In a sweetheart plea deal, Herkimer County Legislature Chairman Robert Hollum was sentenced to 30 days of house arrest and three years of probation with drug and alcohol conditions. A separate gun charge was “satisfied” by the same plea, according to the news snippet on WKTV. Ilion Village Court Judge Audrey B. Dunning sentenced him on January 24.
Hollum was arrested in May for cocaine possession and pled guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in November. He was arrested on the gun charge in September by state police.
His case was prosecuted by the Oneida County District Attorney’s office. If the intent was to avoid any hint of impropriety, it failed. This is the sort of sweetheart plea bargain for which Herkimer DA Jeffrey Carpenter is notorious.
Why was the court of jurisdiction also not transferred to Oneida County? That would have truly removed any hint of impropriety. Leaving it in the hands of a Herkimer County village court presided over by a part-time judge fuels suspicion that this is being swept under the rug to protect a prominent local politician.
PROOF THE FIX IS IN
I wouldn’t have written about this had WKTV not hidden its first Facebook posting of Hollum’s sentencing. It had over 100 mostly scathing comments when it vanished. Its replacement post is attracting scathing remarks, too. (Follow the link to the original before it disappears.) This all so smacks of Herkimer’s good ole boys protecting each other.
Hollum’s case has inspired me to look at the Herkimer County Legislature’s other recent shady doings. (Did you hear about the unfrocked judge?
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Stay safe, Herkimer.
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