Declaring a hope for “redemption,” Beaver Hills Alderwoman Babz Rawls-Ivy said Monday afternoon that she’s considering a request from the mayor to resign her post after she pleaded guilty to embezzling a total of $49,059 in federal money through a community agency she used to run.
Rawls-Ivy, who’s 43, entered her guilty plea Monday morning in federal court in Bridgeport on one count of misappropriation of funds. The feds charged that she obtained the money — intended for a public-housing anti-drug effort — through 39 bank withdrawals, then used phony paperwork to show that it went to the program, rather than for her personal use. Rawls-Ivy ran an agency called the Alliance for Strong Communities from 2000 – 2003. The agency contracted with the city’s housing authority to work on the anti-drug effort.
Click here to read details in a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Presumably Rawls-Ivy’s decision to plead guilty will enable her to receive considerably less than the maximum 10 years in jail and $250,000 in fines when she reappears in court on Dec. 4 to be sentenced.
“This is a dark day for the Board of Aldermen. I take full responsibility for my actions,” Rawls-Ivy said in a conversation later Monday. “This was a decision that my family and I made. It has been a four and a half year process. We decided it was better to get it behind us” than to fight the charges.
Rawls-Ivy said she still has a lot to contribute to the community. “No matter what happens to people, this is still the land of second and third chances,” she said. “We don’t throw people away when they do something wrong. There is opportunity for redemption. I did a bad thing. But I don’t think I’m a bad person.”
Mayor John DeStefano called her after the sentencing and urged her to resign her aldermanic post, Rawls-Ivy said. She said she will make her decision over the next few days. “I am talking about it,” she said. “It’s still new.”
DeStefano issued the following statement:
“There was a problem at an agency affiliated with the HANH [housing authority]. I am pleased that the Housing Authority Board of Commissioners investigated and handled this situation. What Alderwoman Babz Rawls-Ivy did was wrong and the matter was appropriately adjudicated today in court. I am satisfied that the alderwoman took responsibility. At this point, I have spoken with her and conveyed my belief that she should step down, in the best interest of everyone concerned. Ultimately, however, I recognize that it is her decision.”