A Brooklyn state assemblyman has improperly received wads of campaign cash from nonprofit groups to which he’s doled out pork-barrel money, The Post has found.
Brian Colton, a Democrat, got donations from several registered nonprofits — a practice being probed by state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, which The Post exclusively reported yesterday.
The tax-exempt groups are barred by federal and state law from making campaign donations and have been warned by Cuomo that they could lose their tax-exempt status if they don’t get the contributions back, according to a letter sent to dozens of charities.
Among the donations Colton has received is $1,800 over the last few years from affiliates of St. Athanasius Church in Bensonhurst. The church’s youth program has a registered 501(c)(3), a nonprofit.
And the St. Athanasius Golden Age Club, its senior group, got $10,000 in member-item cash earmarked by Colton in last year’s budget.
The Gravesend Athletic Association made a $750 donation to Colton this year and two $100 donations in past years, records show.
The group got $4,000 in pork in the 2008-09 budget requested by the assemblyman.
The Natural Resources Protection Association on Staten Island, which received $3,500 in earmarks, gave Colton $200 last year, according to state campaign-finance disclosure reports.
Spokesmen for the groups that received taxpayer money couldn’t be reached for comment.
The Post first reported yesterday that Cuomo’s office had started alerting individual charities that he was looking into their illegal donations as part of an ongoing probe into “pay to play” contributions.
Earlier this month, Cuomo’s office gave a stern warning to the Brooklyn Italian Youth Soccer Club over its improper donations over the last five years to different pols.
Colton spokesman Mark Treyger said the assemblyman’s campaign had just returned such a donation from that group yesterday. He insisted it was up to the charities to abide by the strict rules for maintaining tax-exempt status.
He added that when they are informed about a donation from a tax-exempt group that shouldn’t be giving money, “we’ll immediately return the check.”