MONTICELLO- Village of Monticello Mayor George Nikolados appears to have attempted to leverage the reinstatement of a police officer in exchange for a guarantee of votes from Orthodox residents in his upcoming reelection bid, according to an audio recording obtained by Mid-Hudson News.
The January 2024 recording, provided to Mid-Hudson News by Monticello police dispatcher Yermia Solomon with the consent of his attorney, lays out a plan by which Nikolados agrees to reinstate Solomon to his former post as a police officer in exchange for a “guarantee” from the Orthodox Jewish community to support him in his upcoming election. Solomon is locally well-known as a politically active figure in the Orthodox Jewish community.
Nikolados, who is running for reelection in March, will appear on the ballot on a local party line providing his petitions are certified after failing to qualify for a major party line on the ballot. Nikolados is being challenged by Village Trustee Rochelle Massey, a Democrat.
Yermia Solomon’s History with the Village of Monticello
The question surrounding Solomon’s job dates back to June of 2017 when the then 24-year-old Village of Monticello police officer was arrested and charged with third-degree rape, a felony, as well as two misdemeanors. Solomon’s case was eventually settled when he pled to the lesser charge of endangering the welfare of a child. He was sentenced to three years of probation, had to pay a $1,000 fine, and as part of his plea was forced to resign from his position as a police officer.
Shortly after striking the plea, Solomon and his attorneys appealed. Specifically, they challenged facts laid out in Solomon’s criminal indictment and a subsequent superior court information document. The appeal challenged the date of birth of the victim, which according to both the indictment and superior court information document indicated she was of legal age to consent to sexual intercourse at the time of the…
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