Ex-NYPD union head Ed Mullins sentenced to 2 years in prison for stealing $600K in dues

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The disgraced ex-head of the NYPD’s Sergeants Benevolent Association tried pleading for mercy Thursday before he was sentenced to two years in federal prison for stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars from the union.

Ed Mullins, 61, delivered a nearly five-minute speech in Manhattan federal court detailing how greed had led to his downfall and caused his family to fall apart — while vowing to do right if given another chance.

“I must make this right with the men and women of the NYPD,” said Mullins, who had asked the judge for a no-jail sentence.

“I make no excuses,” he said, choking up at the end of his statement. “I made an incredibly bad decision.”

The controversial ex-union boss copped to a wire fraud charge in January as part of a plea deal — admitting he embezzled $600,000 in member dues by submitting “false and inflated” expense reports between 2017 and 2021.

His attorney, Thomas Kenniff, on Thursday labeled Mullins a “broken man” who fell into a “rabbit hole” due to financial distress — and now is left selling used cars on an hourly wage due to his actions.

“There is no doubt that Mr. Mullins has strayed from the biblical path of right in this case, your honor,” Kenniff said.

“I’ve broken my contract with god,” Mullins added in his own statement to the court.

Prosecutors said that Mullins used the union’s money on high-end meals, clothes, jewelry, home appliances and even to pay for a relative’s college tuition.

Assistant US Attorney Alexandra Rothman asked for harsher sentence of 41 months, telling Judge John Koeltl that Mullins “disrespected the uniform” that he wore for nearly 40 years.

She held up a packet of the nearly 200 phony expense reports Mullins filed to the union and waved it around in the courtroom — maintaining that when you have a law enforcement leader “who picks the pockets of the men and women he is supposed to protect, that deserves the stiffest punishment.”

“This was not one mistake, this was not an aberration,” Rothman said. “[Mullins] did it again and again.”

Kenniff, meanwhile, argued Mullins should be spared prison time and instead should be sentenced to home confinement.

Mullins was forced to hand over $600,000 in restitution to the SBA, in addition to owing a $600,000 fine, penalties his attorney said would erase his entire life savings — warranting a sentence less than 41 months.

The judge handed down the 24-month prison sentence, in addition to three years of post-release supervision.

“Any sentence is tragic,” Koeltl said. “But the tragedy of the sentence is certainly caused by the defendant’s actions.”

Mullins, who served 39 years in the NYPD, had his career turned upside down when the FBI raided his home and union offices in October 2021. He later turned himself in in February 2022 and was released on $250,000 bond.

As part of his plea deal, Mullins said he would not appeal the sentence if given a prison sentence of 41 months or less.

He had no comment following his sentencing.

Mullins’ attorney said he was glad that his client got off with a lighter sentence than what prosecutors requested.

“I’m very pleased that the court listened to our arguments and gave a sentence substantially below the extreme boundary that [the government] was asking for,” Kenniff said after the hearing.

Mullins must surrender to the federal Bureau of Prisons by November 10.

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