Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren said Thursday that her husband’s cocaine and firearms arrest was politically motivated.
The Democrat spoke briefly with reporters, claiming she had done nothing wrong and the police raid on her house and charges against her husband Timothy Granison were an attempt to discredit her reelection campaign.
“I find the timing of yesterday’s events, three weeks before early voting starts, to be highly suspicious,” Warren said, in her speech, which was posted by Rochester First.
“There’s nothing implicating me in these charges today, because I’ve done nothing wrong. I haven’t spoken to Tim since his arrest, and I’m not standing here to defend him.”
Granison, 42, was part of a drug operation that had been busted with two kilos of cocaine, three guns and more than $100,000. Police found more than two ounces of coke and an unregistered gun at the house where Granison lives with the mayor Wednesday.
“We need to ask ourselves, if this is not about politics, why is Tim’s next court date June 21 — the day before Primary Day?” Warren asked. “Now, that’s quite the coincidence. Now, when you figure out those answers to those questions, come find me, because I’ll be working.”
The 43-year-old mayor, who is facing campaign finance fraud charges, also pointed the finger at Monroe County District Attorney Sandra Doorley, who she claimed “made a deal with a convicted criminal to harm me,” because she was “angry at me for supporting her opponent.”
Doorley defended her office’s work on Thursday.
“This was an investigation spanning close to seven months, a title three wiretap investigation that was run by my office,” she said at a press conference posted by the outlet.
Troopers pulled over the mayor’s husband Thursday afternoon in connection with the ongoing investigation, officials said
“Operating the vehicle was Timothy Granison. He was in possession of a large quantity of cocaine,” said New York State Police Maj. Barry Chase.
Granison pleaded not guilty to three felony drug and gun charges Thursday. Six other people are also facing charges in connection with the drug ring, troopers said.
*story by The New York Post
