What Michael Grimm Is Up To One Year Post-Indictment

As we approach the May 5 special election to fill Michael Grimm’s vacant congressional seat, the Staten Island Advance has done us a favor and tracked down the disgraced former politician, just to see how he is doing one year after his indictment.

Turns out the admitted tax cheat is living quite the charmed life post-scandal: He walks his dog on his pear blossom tree-lined block in Staten Island, he lives with his mom and sister, and he helps the elderly.

Grimm is also a great neighbor.

“He’s excellent,” Dominick DeBenedictis, who lives next door to the former politician, told the outlet. “In the winter, he helps shoveling in front of our house. He’s really a nice guy.”

Looks like the Advance’s stakeout was mostly fruitless, but they did manage to snap a photo of mama Grimm walking Sebastian, the former pol’s Yorkshire terrier, apparently rescued from puppy mill (awww).

To jog your memory, the former Republican congressman was indicted on 20 counts of tax fraud in relation to a fast food joint he owned before going into politics. Despite the scandal, Grimm sailed past Democrat Dominic Recchia during last year’s election for the 11th Congressional District, fiercely maintaining his innocence the entire time. Grimm ended up resigning on January 5 after he was found guilty. The pol is scheduled to be sentenced on June 8.

Councilman Vincent Gentile, Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan, and Green Party candidate James Lane are competing for Grimm’s seat in the upcoming special election. For more information, check out our voter guide.