ALBANY — Former north country Assemblyman George Christian "Chris" Ortloff appeared before a federal judge Tuesday to face a single charge of using the Internet to entice a minor to engage in sexual intercourse.
Mr. Ortloff, 61, was arrested Monday at an Albany area motel in a police sting operation. Prosecutors allege Mr. Ortloff had corresponded since June by e-mail with people he believed to be 11- and 12-year-old sisters, and he traveled to the motel for a sexual tryst.
If convicted, Mr. Ortloff faces a minimum sentence of 10 years in federal prison, a maximum of a life sentence and a $250,000 fine. He is represented by Albany attorney Andrew R. Safranko.
Mr. Ortloff did not enter a plea. He was sent to the custody of Albany County, as U.S. District Court Judge Randolph F. Treece granted a motion by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Spina Jr. for a one-day continuance of the bail hearing. Mr. Spina said prosecutors needed time to assess the results of search warrants executed on Mr. Ortloff's home and workplaces, as well as the motel where he was arrested.
His bail hearing will take place at 2 p.m. today at the James T. Foley federal courthouse in Albany.
Mr. Ortloff appeared grim as he entered the courtroom Tuesday afternoon clad in a yellow jumpsuit with "ACCF Inmate" stenciled across the back and handcuffed at the wrists and ankles. He greeted a reporter and then huddled quietly with his lawyer before the hearing.
A Plattsburgh Republican, Mr. Ortloff served 10 terms in the state Assembly in the former 110th Assembly District, which covered parts of Clinton, Franklin and St. Lawrence counties.
First elected in the February 1986 special election, Mr. Ortloff served as a minority member of the Legislature's lower house until 2006. He decided not to run for re-election when former Clinton County Treasurer Janet L. Duprey launched a primary bid against him. Mrs. Duprey, R-Peru, now represents the 114th Assembly district.
After resigning from the Assembly, Mr. Ortloff was appointed to the 19-member state Board of Parole by former Gov. George E. Pataki. The board determines the dates and conditions of release for state inmates with indeterminate sentences and also may revoke parole. Mr. Ortloff's six-year term expires in June 2012; his annual salary is $101,600.
While an assemblyman, Mr. Ortloff fought against the excessive winter use of road salt because of its environmental damage, but voted against bills he thought were not tough enough. In a Jan. 23, 1995, letter to the Watertown Daily Times, he chided critics of his environmental record, saying his record was one of "building bridges."
"The environment does not belong to any one political party, or any single interest group," Mr. Ortloff wrote. "A mature environmental policy should permit robust debate among committed conservationists who may differ about the best methods to achieve the goal of a clean, safe environment."
In 1991, Mr. Ortloff had a heated floor debate with another former assemblyman, Alexander B. "Pete" Grannis, D-Manhattan, over whether latex rubber balloons are biodegradable. The two sparred over a bill to ban mass releases of helium-filled balloons.
According to the April 25, 1991, edition of the Times, Mr. Ortloff charged the Grannis bill distracted people from serious environmental issues.
"Maybe that's part of the problem, Pete, that those of us in this chamber sometimes presume to know things we don't know and take positions that aren't based on fact and that we really need to go back and do a little more homework," Mr. Ortloff said, arguing that latex, which comes from rubber trees, is natural and biodegradable.
Mr. Grannis, who now heads the state Department of Environmental Conservation, fired back.
"Chris, you're a TV reporter, so you obviously don't know this scientifically," he said. "I'll tell you something. True, pure latex from a tree can't be made into anything. It is processed, it is added to. There are additives put in for color, for strength, for durability."
"If you have any doubts about that," Mr. Grannis continued, "you're welcome to go back to your district, find a tree, pull out the latex, and blow as hard as you want on it and see where you get with it. But we might not get much more than hot air. When you get a balloon, there is no such thing as a natural latex balloon."
Mr. Ortloff also served as chairman of the Clinton County Republican Party and as village trustee in his hometown of Lake Placid. He also was a TV news anchorman for WPTZ in Plattsburgh and served as chief of ceremonies and awards for the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid. He co-wrote a book about the two Olympics held in Northern New York, "Lake Placid: The Olympic Years, 1932-1980."
