Disgraced De Blasio Donor Was Model Snitch, Feds Say

NEW YORK — A political donor who Mayor Bill de Blasio derided as a liar was a model informant whose truthful testimony helped take down corrupt New Yorkers, federal prosecutors say.

Prosecutors called Jona Rechnitz an "exemplary" and "indispensable" snitch as they asked a judge Wednesday to give him a light sentence for wire fraud conspiracy, to which he pleaded guilty in 2017.

"Rechnitz has been, without exaggeration, one of the single most important and prolific white collar cooperating witnesses in the recent history of the Southern District of New York," prosecutors wrote in a court filing.

"More than simply fueling a boom of related prosecutions, Rechnitz’s cooperation exposed the sordid underbelly of multiple New York City institutions, exposed serious crimes, and held powerful people who fell short of their obligations to the broader public to account," they added.

Rechnitz proved invaluable to several high-profile corruption cases in the last three years, including those against former correction officers union boss Norman Seabrook and Rechnitz's former business partner, Jeremy Reichberg, prosecutors said.

Seabrook and Reichberg, also a de Blasio donor, were convicted of bribery in August 2018 and January of this year, respectively. Seabrook invested union money in a hedge fund after taking a bribe from the fund's manager, while Rechnitz paid off cops for favors such as police escorts.

Rechnitz also aided a federal probe of de Blasio's political fundraising that ended without any criminal charges, prosecutors say.

Prosecutors said Rechnitz made hefty political contributions to de Blasio and sought favors from his administration. While the mayor was not charged, Rechnitz provided information that was "generally corroborated by other evidence uncovered during the investigation, including the accounts of other witnesses," prosecutors wrote.

De Blasio has downplayed his relationship with Rechnitz and dismissed his testimony, calling him "a liar and a felon."

But prosecutors say Rechnitz was remarkably honest during his cooperation with federal authorities, though they admitted he was a "brazen criminal."

Rechnitz had more than 80 meetings with prosecutors since and flew from the West Coast for most of them, prosecutors said.

"The information he has provided has been truthful, candid, and corroborated by other evidence, and he has otherwise adhered scrupulously to the terms of the agreement he signed with the Government," the prosecutors wrote.