A close friend of crooked former state Sen. Shirley Huntley yesterday took a plea deal that landed him six months behind bars for stealing from a children’s nonprofit in Queens.
Van Holmes — who once wrote a letter to a judge seeking leniency for the thieving Huntley — had faced up to 15 years on a slew of charges for swiping $95,000 in funds allocated to the Young Leaders Institute that he ran in Laurelton.
But Holmes, 50, pleaded down to felony third-degree larceny after agreeing to repay all the stolen dough. He also will be on probation for five years after his prison stint.
Holmes, who’s set to head to jail Oct. 1, refused to comment after yesterday’s hearing in Queens Criminal Court.
The funds were steered to his nonprofit by Huntley and City Council members.
Three current members of the City Council — Queens Democrats Ruben Wills, Leroy Comrie and Mark Weprin — are now under investigation after giving $30,000 in taxpayer-backed “member items” to Holmes’ nonprofit in 2011 and 2012, sources have said.