Michael Grimm, former House member convicted of tax fraud, is paralyzed in fall from horse

NEW YORK —  Former U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm, a New York Republican who resigned from Congress following a tax fraud conviction, is paralyzed from the chest down after being thrown from a horse throughout a polo match, in accordance with buddies who’re elevating funds to pay for the ex-lawmaker’s medical care.

Grimm, 54, suffered the devastating damage in September and is now being handled on the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in New Jersey, the place the late actor Christopher Reeve was handled after an analogous equestrian accident in 1995, in accordance with Vincent Ignizio, a pal of Grimm’s who’s a former New York Metropolis Council member.

Grimm had been an avid polo participant for years, Ignizio mentioned. “It was a ardour of his and he suffered a tragic accident on the finish of September,” mentioned Ignizio, who has arrange a GoFundMe account to pay for Grimm’s medical care.

A former Marine and FBI agent, Grimm represented Staten Island and part of Brooklyn in Congress from 2011 to 2015.

A federal investigation into Grimm’s fundraising that began in 2012 in the end resulted in a 20-count indictment centered on a restaurant Grimm ran in Manhattan. Prosecutors mentioned he underreported wages and income to the federal government and filed false tax paperwork.

Grimm received reelection in 2014 regardless of the indictment however pleaded responsible the next month to at least one depend of tax fraud. He resigned from Congress in January 2015 and served eight months in jail.

Grimm tried a comeback in 2018 however misplaced a Republican major for his outdated district to incumbent Rep. Dan Donovan, who then misplaced the overall election to Democrat Max Rose.

Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis defeated Rose in 2020 and has represented the district since then.

Grimm has lately labored as a number on Newsmax.

The GoFundMe for Grimm’s medical care had raised $118,000 as of noon Monday. “His final aim is to get himself to stroll once more,” Ignizio mentioned.

Matthews writes for the Related Press.