NY County Legislator Accused Of Filing False Jobless Claims

WAMC Northeast Public Radio | By Dave Lucas

Published August 12, 2015 at 4:55 PM EDT

The chairman of the Rensselaer County Legislature has been charged with grand larceny and filing dozens of false documents to improperly collect more than $15,000 of state unemployment benefits.

Martin Reid, a Republican, pleaded not guilty and was released Wednesday.

The state attorney general says Reid collected jobless benefits in 2013 after resigning from the New York State School Boards Association in the face of termination.

Authorities say that in his weekly certification for benefits, Reid said he hadn't worked and hadn't earned more than $405 in the preceding week, though he still received an annual salary of $30,000 from the county.

A call to Reid's attorney was not immediately returned.

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Dave Lucas

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.

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