Developer Shalom Lamm, who earlier this year pleaded guillty to voter fraud, was sentenced on December 7 to ten months in prison, 400 hours of community service and a fine of $20,000.

Lamm pealded guilty in a scheme to take over the government in the Village of Bloomingburg in order to remove obstructions to building thousands of units of housing units marketed to the Hasidic community.

The follwing is from a town of Mamkting press release:

In a scathing recitation of Lamm’s crimes during sentencing, Judge Briccetti, while recognizing Mr. Lamm’s many letters attesting to his virtue, said, “Good deeds are not more important than the crime itself. What about compassion for your neighbors? This case is about the lack of compassion for your neighbors. Neighbors be damned. Why? To make millions.”

The Judge in sentencing Lamm also said, “He caused lasting harm to the community in corrupting the electoral process. A jail sentence is necessary to preserve the law.”

Judge Briccetti dismissed legal arguments that Lamm’s actions were a result of anti-Hasidic sentiment and bad legal and PR advice. “You did not do this because of discrimination, but because the adverse economic impact was far more important than anti-Hasidism.”

After hearing Shalom Lamm’s plea for leniency, Judge Briccetti suggested that, “He was not convinced that you (Mr. Lamm) get it.”

William E. Herrmann, Mamakating Town Supervisor, spoke before the Judge in supplying a Victims Impact Statement.  "He (Lamm) actively sought to destroy the reputation of the Town as well as my reputation. He still refuses to take responsibility for his actions."  Other community members spoke before the Judge as well, saying that “the community was destroyed emotionally and that they lost faith in the legal process. See statement, http://bit.ly/2j0YCgR,

According to the Town Board, Chestnut Ridge developer Shalom Lamm engaged in illegal activity that so damaged the reputation of the Town and many of its residents, that the court should sentence him commensurate with the grave nature of his crimes.

The statement continued: “By bringing meritless claims, including claims of anti-Semitic based discrimination, against individuals, organizations, public officials, and governmental institutions, including the Town Board of the Town of Mamakating, Town of Mamakating Supervisor Bill Herrmann, the Zoning Board of Appeals of the Town of Mamakating, and the Board of Trustees of the Village of Bloomingburg, as well as the Sullivan County Board of Elections; by suing almost all these elected and appointed officials personally individually, as well as officially; Lamm sought to intimidate with litigation as a means to stifle critics and ensure the success of his enterprise.” 

The Town Board stated, “We hope that this campaign of corruption, fraud, defamation and intimidation will end with Mr. Lamm’s lengthy and well-deserved incarceration, as well as maximum appropriate fines. ”

According to a Victim Impact Statement http://bit.ly/2j0YCgR, “The Town [of Mamakating] and Village have been under siege in a hostile takeover spearheaded by a racketeering enterprise headed by Shalom Lamm. Lamm and his co-conspirators have attempted to exert power and influence in a variety of schemes with the sole goal of controlling these municipalities for the benefit of the racketeering enterprise, which he leads. Lamm and the others have acted through highly sophisticated covert and overt schemes of fraud, bribery, intimidation and voter fraud, and by corruptly influencing public officials and governmental institutions.”