Is this an epidemic in Erie county?Former chairman Holt is possibly being indicted now Assemblywoman Peoples.. Holt for sales tax and People for lottery sales…

Do as I say, not as I do….

Spitzer pursues People vs. Peoples

Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who has brought Wall Street titans to their knees, has been trying to retrieve $17,897.11 in unpaid state lottery fees, plus accrued interest, from Assembly- woman Crystal Peoples since 2004 without success.

The junior assemblywoman, a fellow Democrat supporting Spitzer’s gubernatorial run, was the lottery agent for a liquor store in her hometown of Buffalo.

It was her cousin’s place, she said.

“I’m not guilty of anything,” Peoples said. “I opened the store in my name for my cousin, paid taxes on it and went into debt for it.”

Her lawyer, Adam Perry, said she paid off state tax debts — $18,000 — because Taxation & Finance issued a clear notice of taxes owed. But the attorney general, he said, has never notified his client what is allegedly owed to Lottery.

“They haven’t served her yet, so they really haven’t commenced an action,” said Perry. “There’s nothing to do until this is formally served on her.”

A Lottery spokeswoman said the agency wrote to Peoples about the unpaid bill and referred the matter to Spitzer’s office a year after suspending lottery sales in July 2003.

Spitzer’s spokesman, Marc Violette, said he could not discuss the case, but stresses: “We began legal action against Ms. Peoples in August of 2004 on behalf of the Lottery Division. The office would suggest Ms. Peoples’ attorney contact our office. There’s an active lawsuit against her, and her attorney is aware of that.”

The Peoples case, he said, is among 155,000 pending in the office’s civil recovery unit, which last year recovered $103.3 million owed the state. Recoveries this year were almost $67 million through the end of July.

Contributor: Capitol bureau reporter James M. Odato. Got a tip? Call 454-5424 or e-mail jjochnowitz@timesunion.com