This just in…from the “This really happened?” files: A Brooklyn assemblyman is busted for jacking campaign contributions to pay for pricey yoga classes. Now, we’re pretty sure everyone in present company can all agree yoga is worthwhile endeavor. Like, maybe you even save up extra change in your piggy bank for a weekend retreat or opt for the more affordable by-donation classes around town when the cash flow is low. For Brooklyn Assemblyman William Boyland Jr., though, siphoning almost $500 to pay for expensive private yoga session for he and and his girlfriend seemed to be the right thing to do at the time.
The ultimate irony, no? Stealing money to pay for your peace of mind. The politician’s ex-girlfriend, Ry-Ann Hermon, who was also the chief of staff, testified in Boyland’s Brooklyn federal court last week that the $500 was used for two private yoga classes at the Atmananda studios in Gramercy Park in 2009, the NY Post reports.
“He told me we need to clear our minds,” Hermon said on the witness stand. “Yoga can release stress and tension, so he wanted us to partake in yoga classes.”
Receipts offered by the prosecutors showed proof of the yoga sessions and Boyland’s utter lack of a grasp on reality, let alone yoga. But hey, at least he was trying? Boyland and Hermon were arrested in 2011 for taking bribes in exchange for political favors. Hermon testified as part of her plea bargain and is now dishing on the former assemblyman’s new brand of Corruptasana.
In a related story, Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick used a whopping $4000 of funds from his non-profit to pay for yoga classes in 2002, and he didn’t even go to Wanderlust.
[NY Post]
image Kevin Hagen/NY Daily News
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