GAME’S UP: Queens Sen. Shirley Huntley was aware that state probers were closing in on her, an insider says. (
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A Queens state lawmaker who allegedly funneled money into her pet charity will surrender to police tomorrow, when she expects to be indicted and arrested.
Sen. Shirley Huntley would not specify what the charges against her will be, but the bizarre press conference she convened yesterday came months after damning reports revealed that her ties to nonprofits allegedly cost taxpayers more than $400,000.
Huntley’s lawyer, Sally J.M. Butler, spoke through most of the haphazard event outside the senator’s home, in front of which stood a campaign sign urging voters to re-elect her in the upcoming Democratic primary.
The announcement comes more than a year after The Post reported how Huntley, a who represents Jamaica, Laurelton and South Ozone Park, tried to direct $155,000 to her Parent Workshop nonprofit.
An investigation by state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman followed, and in December, he announced the indictments of four alleged schemers.
“She’s aware the noose is tightening,” said a source familiar with the probe.
The indictments led Huntley allies to cooperate with the state investigators, said a source with knowledge of the probe.
The indictments charged Parent Workshop President Patricia D. Savage, who worked as a Huntley Senate aide, as well as Lynn H. Smith, the nonprofit’s treasurer, with being involved in a scheme to steal taxpayer money.
David R. Gantt, a consultant, and Roger N. Scotland, president of the Southern Queens Park Association, were also charged with falsifying records.
Chatter of a looming Huntley indictment persisted for months after.
The rumors moved closer to reality Friday night when the senator’s rep contacted news outlets with a cryptic invitation to the 11 a.m. press conference in Jamaica, where two men stood guard outside Huntley’s house.
A Huntley relative who emerged to pick up a pizza delivery grew hostile with reporters and photographers, even though they had been invited to be there.
“You guys should get a life!” she roared.
A woman answering Huntley’s phone told reporters the senator was in meetings or sleeping, refusing to put her on the line.
Huntley started the Parent Workshop in 2006, eight months before being elected. Once in office, she authorized a $30,000 grant and tried to send another $125,000 a year later.
The $30,000 member item went to two consultants. One was Sherman Russell, 71, who got $15,000 in 2008 and 2009, purportedly to conduct workshops for parents and students, records show.
The other consultant, Gantt, who also earned $15,000, was purportedly paid for conducting workshops for parents and making “outreach visits” to schools and community groups, workshop documents show.
The attorney general offered little about Huntley’s fate yesterday.
“The appropriate forum in which to respond to the senator is a court of law, where the attorney general will prove all facts according to the rules of evidence,” spokesman James Freedland said. “Those facts will speak for themselves.”