CLARKSVILLE, N.Y. (NEWS10) — Sheriff Craig Apple held a press conference to discuss the Albany County Sheriff’s Office filing a “sex crime” misdemeanor complaint against former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. Sheriff Apple said they received the complaint about Cuomo in August and have conducted a “comprehensive and methodical investigation.”
He said his investigators read through hundreds of documents, executed search warrants and conducted interviews for the case. The documents were sent to Albany City Court for review and a criminal summons was issued. Sheriff Apple said the documents were signed at an accelerated rate.
‘We did our job’: Sheriff Apple talks about Cuomo criminal complaint
Sheriff Apple said he has not spoke to the District Attorney or Cuomo’s attorney, Rita Glavin, prior to the complaint being filed. He had a meeting set up with the District Attorney on October 28, but the documents were leaked before then.
“I would have liked to, at that point, had a deeper conversation with the District Attorney. I would have liked to reach out to Ms. Glavin, Cuomo’s attorney, and explain what was going on,” said Sheriff Apple. “But needless to say, the document was signed, the document was leaked. So again, things don’t always work out as planned.”
He did note that he talked to the District Attorney after the documents were leaked. Sheriff Apple said he is confident the District Attorney will prosecute the case. He also mentioned the Sheriff’s Office and District Attorney’s Office are conducting separate investigations.
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Sheriff Apple addressed criticism of himself, notably from Cuomo’s attorney. He said he would rather have the criticism thrown at him than the complainant. He said the complainant has been working with the Sheriff’s Office every step of the way.
Sheriff Apple said his investigators did a great job and they have a solid case. They handled this case like a normal investigation.
“We did not rush this, we did not delay it, we took out time and we went through it and again they did a great job with it,” said Sheriff Apple.
This was not politically motivated, said Sheriff Apple. He said the Sheriff’s Office is an apolitical organization.
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“We do our investigations. We’re a very professional agency, ” said Sheriff Apple. “And I took an oath and we took a complaint. And we followed through with it and we did like every other police department and sheriff’s office should have done.”
Sheriff Apple said he had not spoken to the Attorney General’s Office about the case. He said the summons has not yet been served to Cuomo or his attorney.
Take a look at the complaint below: