Adam McFadden: Playing the Race Card for Fun and Profit.

Former Rochester City Councilman Adam McFadden was sentenced for his crimes of embezzlement and tax fraud on Friday, February 11, 2022.

He pled guilty to those charges October 9, 2019, and agreed to turn state's evidence against his former friend and co-conspirator George Moses, former chairman of the Rochester Housing Authority, in return for consideration at his sentencing.

There is no honor among thieves, after all.

George's share in the embezzlement is a lot more glamorous than Adam's, since it features adultery and money spent on love nests, green cards, luxury vacations, a time share and dental work.

Adam's reason for embezzling money from agencies meant to help poor, especially Black, people was simple: He needed the money.

Adam was sentenced to 18 months in prison, though it's doubtful that he will serve all of it and the prison he will be residing at will probably be a branch of Club Fed, a distinguished rest home for celebrities and political criminals of whom an "example" must be made.

He is also forced to pay restitution.

The breakdown, for which I thank news reporter Berkeley Brean, is as follows:

87k to Rochester Housing Charities; 46k to the IRS;131k to Quad A for Kids.

He remains free until he is ordered to report to prison.

Upon leaving the courtroom, Adam stated that everyone has to follow the law.

It's odd that, at 50 years old and having served as a lawmaker in Rochester for 15 years, that concept just dawned on him. 

He also stated that "This is not who I am!"

But Adam, it IS you!

And playing the race card stopped working for you, hence your sheepish behavior now that you have been exposed as a liar and a thief.

This is very different from when he was first arrested, swearing that, before God, he was innocent.

Now he admitted he had indeed committed these crimes. And that he betrayed the Black community, who loved and trusted him.

The simple fact is that Adam never rose above his past as an illegitimate, poverty-stricken troubled youth in Rochester's SW Quad, growing up with contempt for the law.

His election to public office 20 years ago didn't change that. It only heightened his arrogance.

To be sure, the Black community loved him. They thought he would not only represent them but be representative of them.

The Black community had had enough of White liberal Democrats seeking their votes, promising them everything and anything to get them and then renege upon their promises.

It would be far better to elect one of their own kind, so they elected Adam. 

This was a typical reaction across the nation and indeed throughout Rochester in districts where the Black community is the majority.

One of their own wouldn't lie to them or steal from them. They weren't like White politicians.

And if anyone criticized their choice of a Black politician, it was clearly racism!

Adam was still an attractive young man then, before comfort-eating caused his weight to balloon to grotesque proportions and his arrogance turned off most of the non-Black community.

Nor did his habit of eating during City Council meetings endear him to the attendees.

Unfortunately, almost as soon as he was elected to office, Adam's smugness and arrogance was made public beyond the confines of the Black community.

In an altercation at an East Avenue bar, Adam threatened the manager, stating that he would "beat you like a child."

Duly reported to the media, which wasn't infected by White woke progressivism yet, he realized that he was out of his element and was forced to make a grudging apology.

That was the last time he ever did.

Until now.

From then on his actions were focused on the Black community, speaking out for more programs for "his" people, being seen at events in the community and ultimately stealing from those same programs he helped to create.

When criticized, he played the race card.

The race card can be found in any standard political deck. It is an ace, to be sure, when applied to White politicians and critics, because it silences them with accusations of racism.

The race card had been exercised like a racehorse by Adam's mentor, David Gantt, and his friend and political ally, ex-Mayor Lovely Warren, for years and it proved to be effective to silence critics, to prevent them from being too vocal and look too closely or deeply into their activities.

It also became an effective way to get cash through corruption, to enrich oneself and frighten off threats of legal repercussions.

But sometimes, the ace becomes the Joker, which is exactly what happened in Adam's case.

The programs he stole from were meant to be of benefit to the Black community, the community he had so vocally claimed to serve, disdainfully dismissing critics, usually White, who dared to question the propriety of his actions.

Unfortunately, when the FBI began to investigate Adam's crimes, playing the race card no longer worked and the Joker could be heard to be laughing in the background.

The FBI could not be swayed by Adam's accusations of racism for the simple fact that it wasn't racism. And the investigation revealed that Adam committed crimes against his own people! That he betrayed the people who looked up to him.

Which is what Adam always feared: to be revealed as the punk he always was and never had been able to outgrow.

So, soon he will be off to the hoosegow for a short stint (like I said, he will probably NOT serve the entire length of his sentence) and his repentance will not long survive his release from prison.

Nor is it clear how he will pay off the restitution bill, since he will come out of prison with no job with which to earn enough money to pay it back.

The only visible sign of any innate changes in Adam could be seen as he left the courtroom on Friday: He had shaved off his braids.

Well, that's better than nothing.

And of the orange jumpsuit he will probably wear in prison?

Well, orange is the favorite color of his friend and political ally, ex-Mayor Lovely Warren, who made a far more generous deal with the law than Adam did.

Perhaps it will be a reminder of the days when they were riding high on the hog and the race card worked for them.

***Photos of Adam McFadden were from the Democrat and Chronicle***