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Tipsheet

NY Uses Tax Dollars to Pay Former Criminals to Mentor Youth. Guess What Happened Next

AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson

There isn't a government program that Democrats won't waste money on, no matter how ridiculous. Instead of creating a culture that puts criminals in prison (that would be racist) and teaches children that they will face consequences for bad behavior, Democrats insist on funding social programs that never work, but are sure to make them feel good.

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In New York, the Strategic Neighborhood Understanding and Guardian (SNUG) Program pairs former criminals with youth to dissuade them from entering a life of drugs and violent crime. But two men paid by that taxpayer-funded program were just busted for...dealing drugs and carrying weapons.

They were originally busted in earlier this year and were apparently on the clock when they were selling the drugs.

Here's more from the original story.

They were hired to stop crime and now, they’re accused of fueling it.

Two Syracuse men working for a state-funded anti-violence program are now at the center of a drug investigation.

A year-long probe led to the shocking discovery and a 24-count indictment.

Just steps away from the Southwest Community Center in Syracuse where they were paid to steer young people away from violence, prosecutors say Cassieum Pitts and Ahmed Abdi, were selling drugs.

“And they’re accused of doing this on the clock?” NewsChannel 9’s Rachel Polansky asked. 

“Yes,” Senior Assistant District Attorney, Alphonse Williams, said.

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Now those two men, Ahmed Abdi and Cassieum Pitts have accepted plea deals in this case. Abdi will be in prison for six years; Pitts will serve nine.

Prosecutors said Abdi and Pitts were wearing orange safety vests and on duty when they sold cocaine and methamphetamine to a confidential informant.

"It's honestly crazy, right?" said Alphonse Williams, the Senior District Attorney in Onondaga County. "You can’t miss those bright orange vests. And you’re like, man, this is actually happening in our city,” Williams also called video of Abdi and Pitts "discomforting" and did damage to the community, especially the kids they were hired to mentor.

"When the youth see that, they’re like, if you’re not taking it seriously, I’m not gonna take it seriously. I’m gonna be like you, and I’m gonna continue to do the things that are plaguing our community at large. It’s the youth that they’re supposed to be serving that gets hurt by this."

Governor Kathy Hochul was a proponent of SNUG. During a March 2022 press conference, she said, "This is an important program because I know that it works. I want to continue investing in what we know has a proven track record of accomplishment." In February, she said the state would spend $20 million on SNUG, with almost $2 million going to the Syracuse site. That announcement came shortly before Abdi and Pitts were arrested.

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In a statement, Lateef Johnson-Kinsey, a spokesperson for the mayor, said, "Every organization has bad apples, no matter what the organization is. It was two individuals, not 20. Two individuals does not stop what we are doing as a community."

Editor’s Note: The Democrat Party has never been less popular as voters reject its globalist agenda.

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