In his second court appearance before Judge Francis Nicolai on Thursday morning, Richard Saint Angel agreed to withdraw from the Town of Poughkeepsie supervisor’s race if Democratic candidate Patricia Myers would drop her lawsuit against him.
Myers, who defeated Saint Angel in a Democratic primary last month, challenged Saint Angel’s petitions for nomination on the independent Tax Relief Party line, alleging widespread fraud.
But Saint Angel, through his attorney, maintained that he did not falsify any signatures, despite agreeing that nearly half were invalid.
“He absolutely denies it, and he continues to deny it,” said Judith Levin, his attorney, of the fraud allegations. “There were no fraudulent signatures he was aware of. Certainly, some people may have been defrauding him and the public. That’s the important issue.”
She said her client agreed to withdraw because the slim likelihood of prevailing as a third-party candidate did not justify the difficulty and expense of continuing the case.