The 43-year-old Schofield, joined by his attorney, Danielle Neroni, admitted to unlawful possession and use of a means of identification on five occasions in May, September and October 2021.
After detailing each count, U.S. District Judge Mae D'Agostino, asked Schofield how he pleaded.
"Guilty," the Troy man responded.
"Are you pleading guilty because you are guilty and for no other reason?" the judge asked Schofield.
"Yes, your honor," he replied as courtroom observers, including FBI agents, looked on.
The guilty plea of Schofield is part of a broader, ongoing investigation by the U.S. Justice Department that led to the earlier guilty plea of now ex- Troy City Council Member Kimberly Ashe-McPherson. The probe is examining the election activities of several top county officials.
When the judge asked Neroni if her client had a viable defense, should the case have gone to trial, Neroni indicated to D'Agostino that Schofield was pleading guilty, at least to an extent, against her advice.
"This is Mr. Schofield's decision," Neroni told D'Agostino. "He wants to go forward. This is his choice."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Barnett, in laying out the factual basis for Schofield's guilty plea, said that on two occasions, Schofield acted on the request of Ashe-McPherson, who pleaded guilty to a federal charge in June.
"If I put a few names in [a state elections] portal, would you be able to give me ballots tomorrow and not mail it?" Schofield asked an employee, whom he supervised, at one point, according to Barnett.
The employee said yes, the prosecutor said.
Schofield did not have the lawful authority to use the voters' names and dates of birth in the applications for absentee ballots, Barnett told the judge.
After listening to Barnett detail the charges, the judge asked Schofield: "Is that what you did and what occurred in this case?"
Schofield said yes.
Schofield faces 10 to 16 months behind bars under federal sentencing guidelines. It could be as low as zero to six months depending on the circumstances at the time of his sentencing, which is set for May 12.
He agreed to waive an appeal on any sentence of 21 months or less.
Sources have told the Times Union that he has agreed to cooperate with federal authorities.
Schofield abruptly resigned from his commissioner position on Dec. 28, hours after the Times Union published a story on his decision to plead guilty to the federal charges. The newspaper also reported that he would resign and cooperate with authorities as part of that plea agreement. The change of plea notice was apparently a surprise to members of the Rensselaer County Legislature, who had voted on Dec. 13 to reappoint Schofield to the $89,041 job while his federal criminal case was pending.
Schofield was arrested in September outside his residence by the FBI on charges detailed in the indictment. He initially pleaded not guilty but last month agreed to change his plea.
The indictment that charged Schofield with unlawful possession and use of a means of identification alleged that Schofield violated the law when Rensselaer County had elections for county executive, county clerk, County Legislature seats, the Troy City Council and mayor of the city of Rensselaer.
Schofield was named elections in commissioner in April 2018, the same month he resigned from the city of Troy's Board of Education, where he served for 15 years and was president for seven.
___
(c)2023 the Times Union (Albany, N.Y.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Related Articles
