Luis Olmedo

Luis Olmedo was of Puerto Rican descent. After graduating from college Olmedo was employed in New York City as an anti-poverty worker. He worked as chairman of Los Sures to create, and then headed up the Southside United Housing Development Fund Corporation.{{Cite news|date=14 June 1973 |title=Gigante is Victor in Council Race |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1973/06/14/archives/gigante-is-victor-in-council-race-bronx-priest-wins-4way-contest-by.html |access-date=13 December 2022 }}{{Cite book|last=Schneider |first=Cathy |year=2005 |chapter=Political Opportunities and Framing Puerto Rican Identity in New York City |editor-last1=Johnston |editor-first1=Hank |editor-last2=Noakes |editor-first2=John A. |title=Frames of protest: Social movements and the framing perspective |location=Lanham, Maryland |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |pages=163–181, page 172 |isbn=978-0-7425-3806-1 |url=https://www.academia.edu/3224907 }} He organized a number of protests against the racially biased allocations of public housing.

Olmedo was first elected in 1973 to the New York City Council from the newly redrawn 27th District, which included major portions of the Williamsburg and Bushwick sections of Brooklyn. The district as drawn was predominantly Puerto Rican. Over the course of his decade on th Council, became vice chairman of its Black and Hispanic Caucus, as well as chairman of the Council's Youth Services Committee.{{Cite news|last=Fried |first=Joseph P. |date=3 March 1984 |title=Olmedo and Co-defendant Guilty in Extortion Plot |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/03/03/nyregion/olmedo-and-co-defendant-guilty-in-extortion-plot.html |access-date=13 December 2022 }}

Council member Olmedo was arrested in 1983, and charged with extorting money from two food production companies. In evidence, it was alleged that he received $12,000 from an undercover investigator.{{Cite news|last=Fried |first=Joseph P. |date=3 November 1983 |title=Councilman and 2 others indicted in payoff case |language=en-US |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/03/nyregion/councilman-and-2-others-indicted-in-payoff-case.html |access-date=13 February 2022 }} It was alleged that Olmedo and his assistant, Carlos Castellanos, had demanded the $12,000 before approving plans by a Brooklyn fish-processing company to move to a city-owned site in Mr. Olmedo's district. He was tried the following year{{Cite news|last=Fried |first=Joseph P. |date=1 February 1984 |title=Extortion Trial of Councilman Gets Underway |language=en-US |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/02/01/nyregion/extortion-trial-of-councilman-gets-under-way.html |access-date=13 December 2022 }} and convicted in federal court of conspiracy and attempted extortion. Olmedo received a sentence of a year and a day in prison.{{Cite news|agency=AP |date=19 May 1984 |title=Ex-Councilman Gets Prison Term |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/19/nyregion/the-city-ex-councilman-gets-prison-term.html |access-date=13 December 2022 }}

Olmedo was automatically expelled from his councilman's seat upon conviction. He was succeeded by Nydia Margarita Velázquez, who was appointment by the Council.{{Cite news|last=Lemoyne |first=James |date=25 May 1984 |title=Olmedo Seat on Council Filled |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/05/25/nyregion/olmedo-seat-on-council-filled.html |access-date=13 December 2022 }}

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Category:Living people

Category:1935 births

Category:New York City Council members

Category:Politicians from Brooklyn

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