Metro

Rangel sets fund-raiser

WASHINGTON — Disgraced Rep. Charles Rangel is already raising money for his 2012 re-election campaign.

The Harlem Democrat’s campaign yesterday sent out invitations for a March 2 cocktail reception–with tickets costing $1,000 to $5,000. The pricey soiree was announced just days after the 80-year-old congressman — still popular with colleagues and voters despite his House censure two months ago — filed candidacy papers to run for a 22nd term.

The invite beckons supporters to join the “dean of the NY delegation and member of the committee on Ways and Means,” but doesn’t mention he resigned as chairman of the committee amid an ethics scandal that led to his conviction and censure.

Meanwhile, former Rangel pal Kelvin Crucey was sentenced in New York yesterday to 27 months in prison for scamming nearly $250,000 in fraudulent tax refunds by using his position at a Harlem nonprofit established by Rangel to con bank officials into cashing IRS checks.