On Wednesday, October 11, 2017, it was announced that a former Deputy Secretary of State for New York had been sentenced to prison for perjury. 56-year-old Joseph Felix Strevell of Castleton, New York was sentenced to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Strevell previously pleaded guilty to five counts of perjury. As a part of the plea, Strevell admitted to serving as the Deputy Secretary of State for New York from 1997 to 1999.
The defendant left the position in December of 1999 to become the head of a state-funded Institute for Entrepreneurship. He led that institute until July 2001. In 2007, Strevell pled guilty to defrauding New York State while leading the institute. He gave himself a $95,000 raise without approval from the Board of Directors. The defendant also admitted to improperly using Institute funds for personal purposes.
In March of 2009, a judgment was entered requiring Strevell to pay $111,500 in restitution to New York State and his victim. He was required to pay a minimum of $100 per month or 10 percent of his monthly gross earnings. He was required to pay full restitution if he was ever able to do so at any point. In December of 2014, Strevell was deposed under oath to find out whether or not he was complying with his restitution obligation.
He was ultimately questioned about making a $75,440 down payment on a lease with an option to purchase a horse farm in Rensselaer County. He falsely testified that his mother and aunt gave him the majority of the funds. In reality, his aunt and mother did not contribute any money toward the down payment.
Strevell also lied about the amount of money he contributed to his daughter’s wedding in May of 2014. He claimed he had only contributed a couple thousand dollars. In reality, the defendant paid for the majority of the wedding. He contributed more than $30,000. Again, Joseph Felix Strevell has been sentenced to 30 months in prison.