Former, current Rensselaer County employees in custody, FBI confirms

TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) — The FBI confirms that Richard Crist, James Gordon, and Leslie Wallace have been taken into custody. Crist served as the Rensselaer County Communications Director and political consultant to County Executive Steve Mclaughlin.

Gordon was the county's Director of Central Services and Wallace was a county employee and longtime political consultant. Arraignments are scheduled for 2 p.m. Thursday concerning a civil rights/voting rights investigation in Rensselaer County.

“For hundreds of years, our nation has fought to live up to the keystone promise that is the franchise to vote," said Troy Mayor Patrick Madden in a statement regarding alleged disenfranchisement of voters. "Every New Yorker deserves access to the ballot, but the actions alleged in today’s indictment undermine the integrity of our electoral system—the very bedrock of our democracy. As this process bears out over the coming months, let’s keep in mind that these are charges. Nothing has been proven and I very much hope for the sake of our community that the allegations in this indictment are not true.  As a lawyer, I put my trust in our court system and will await the outcome of the legal process.”