A New York state senator from Brooklyn was charged Monday with stealing proceeds from sales of foreclosed properties to finance a failed run for district attorney, prosecutors said, making him the state’s latest politician to face federal criminal charges.

John Sampson, 47, a Democrat who has represented southeastern Brooklyn since 1997, was charged with nine counts including embezzlement, obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal investigators, according to an indictment unsealed Monday.

Sampson, a practicing attorney for more than two decades, turned himself in and was arraigned in Brooklyn federal court Monday afternoon. He pleaded not guilty, and was released on a $250,000 bond.

In April, U.S. attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan charged state Sen. Malcolm Smith with attempting to buy a spot on New York City’s mayoral ballot. Several days later, Assemblyman Eric Stevenson was charged in an alleged bribery scheme.

Loretta Lynch, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said at a press conference that Sampson abused the public trust to further his own political ambitions “in one of the most extreme examples of political hubris we’ve yet seen.”

According to the indictment, Sampson served as a court-appointed referee in foreclosure proceedings in Brooklyn state court beginning in the late 1990s. In that position, he helped oversee sales of foreclosed properties and controlled escrow accounts containing proceeds from those sales.

Lynch alleged that Sampson embezzled $440,000 from escrow accounts in at least four properties in Brooklyn between 1998 and 2008. Prosecutors said he used the money to help pay expenses for his unsuccessful 2005 bid to unseat incumbent Brooklyn district attorney Charles Hynes in the Democratic primary.

Hynes narrowly edged out Sampson that year to win a fifth term.

Sampson later borrowed money from an unnamed associate in the real-estate industry to help repay some of the stolen money, prosecutors said. They said that when that associate was charged with a mortgage fraud scheme in 2011, Sampson tried to keep him from cooperating with authorities, and later solicited an unnamed administrative employee in the Brooklyn federal prosecutor’s office to give him information about that case.

If convicted, Sampson faces up to 10 years on each of the two embezzlement counts, 10 years on one count of obstruction of justice, 20 years on four separate obstruction-of-justice charges and up to five years on two counts of lying to federal agents.

Prosecutors said that they have proposed a plea deal that would recommend Sampson receive a sentence of between 37 and 46 months in prison, in exchange for Sampson pleading guilty to one count of embezzlement and one count of obstruction of justice.

Sampson’s next court appearance is scheduled for June 18.

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A man dressed as Cookie Monster in Times Square was charged Tuesday after he allegedly pushed a 2-year-old boy to the ground because the boy’s mom did not give him a tip.

“Give me money! Give me money! I get $2 for photo,” 33-year-old Osvaldo Quiroz-Lopez allegedly shouted at the boy’s mom Sunday after he posed for photos with the toddler, the New York Post reports.

The boy’s mom, Parmita Katkar of Stamford, Conn., told Quiroz-Lopez that she did not have any cash on her. The man then allegedly cursed out the mom and son before pushing the boy to the ground.

Quiroz-Lopez was charged with reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child.

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The arrest of Bronx Assemblyman Eric Stevenson in a shocking corruption scandal brought other surprising news to state politicians on Thursday: another Bronx assemblyman has been secretly working with federal prosecutors for more than three years.

Nelson Castro, who resigned Thursday, has been identified as the assemblyman who worked as a key witness in the sting operation against Stevenson. Castro went undercover after he was charged in 2009 with a sealed perjury indictment, the New York Post reports.

Castro was charged after he lied in 2008 about a large number of people who registered to vote using his apartment’s address, sources told the Post.

According to the indictment, Castro agreed to cooperate with the U.S. Attorney and Bronx District Attorney’s office and to resign from the state assembly.

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A 34-year-old Brooklyn man has been charged with murder in connection with two bodies that were found in a fire in Howard Beach last week, according to the Queens District Attorney’s office.

Rogelio Rodriguez of Brooklyn is charged with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, criminal possession of a weapon and tampering with evidence.

The bodies of Gary Lopez and Rudy Superville, both of Brooklyn, were found in a fire in a grassy area off the Belt Parkway in Howard Beach on March 6 after firefighters had responded to a call about a fire. The Medical Examiner said both men sustained blunt force trauma as well as gunshot wounds. Superville also sustained stab wounds to the back and neck.

Police said they believe the victims were trying to steal drugs from Rodriguez’ apartment when they were attacked, according to The New York Times.

Sometime after midnight on March 7, Rodriguez dumped seven firearms in Newton Creek in Maspeth, Queens, including two weapons that were used in the murders of Lopez and Superville, according to the District Attorney’s office.

Police are still searching for at least three other suspects who were involved in the murders.

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The suspect in a fatal Brooklyn car crash that killed a young pregnant woman, her husband and ultimately their baby, has been charged with three felony counts of criminally negligent homicide. 

Julio Acevedo, 44, was arraigned Thursday night and also charged with leaving the scene of the accident, excessive speed, assault and reckless driving. Police had also charged Acevedo with vehicular manslaughter for the death of the baby who was born after the accident, but prosecutors did not file that charge, The New York Times reports.

Raizy and Nachman Glauber, both 21, were on their way to the hospital in a livery cab just after midnight on Sunday because the woman was not feeling well. Acevedo, driving a borrowed BMW at more than 60 miles per hour, slammed into the car carrying the Glaubers, killing them. The premature baby was born via C-section at Bellevue Hospital, but died the next day.

The driver of the cab is recovering from his injuries and spoke to reporters on Thursday. He said he cannot remember the accident, but he knows the area well and he did not break any traffic laws.

Acevedo, an ex-con who was on the run for three days after the crash, could face anywhere from 15 years to life in prison. He was arrested just last month for drunk driving and previously served eight years in prison for a shooting death in 1987.

A lawyer for the suspect said on Thursday that the crash was “an accident, a horrible accident.”

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