Letter to the Editor: Kenneth Plummer and Rise Up Mount Vernon Must Be Prosecuted Under Federal RICO Statutes by Samuel Rivers 

Mount Vernon is being bled from the inside out—not by its struggling economy, not by crime in the streets—but by deeply embedded corruption orchestrated by political operatives hiding behind nonprofits and campaign flyers. At the center of this cancer is Kenneth Plummer, a shadowy figure with a long and sordid history of illegal dealings, political manipulation, and self-enrichment at the public’s expense.

Plummer is not merely a participant in the city’s corruption—he is its architect. Through Rise Up Mount Vernon, a fake grassroots organization he controls, Plummer has created a political machine powered by intimidation, bribery, pay-to-play schemes, and the laundering of developer and contractor money in exchange for city contracts, tax breaks, and zoning favors.

Rise Up Mount Vernon isn’t a civic group—it’s a criminal enterprise, operating under the cloak of civic engagement. Under any fair reading of the law, its actions fall squarely under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961–1968. The statute was written to break the back of organizations just like this—corrupt enterprises engaged in a pattern of racketeering activity, including wire fraud, mail fraud, extortion, money laundering, and bribery.

In United States v. Turkette, 452 U.S. 576 (1981), the Supreme Court ruled that RICO targets both legitimate and illegitimate enterprises involved in organized criminal conduct. The activities of Kenneth Plummer and Rise Up Mount Vernon are precisely what Congress envisioned when enacting RICO.

Plummer, whose known financial misdeeds include owing upwards of $80,000 to the IRS, has somehow transformed himself into a powerbroker—funded by shady developers, fueled by lies, and protected by politicians who benefit from his dirty work.

He is the bagman of Mount Vernon’s political underworld, moving money and manipulating elections from the shadows.

Through Rise Up, Plummer has orchestrated:

• Citywide mailers disguised as official government notices, filled with false endorsements and propaganda.
• Online smear campaigns and defamatory websites targeting opposition candidates, funded and launched just days before elections.
• Political events staged under the guise of public service, with taxpayer-funded police details acting as campaign security.
• Direct coordination with Mayor Shawyn Patterson-Howard’s office to influence school board, city council, and judicial elections—all while enriching himself and his allies.
  

This is not governance—it’s racketeering.

Kenneth Plummer is not merely an unethical actor. He is a malignant force in Mount Vernon’s civic life—a political cancer that continues to metastasize unchecked. Every day that he remains embedded in our political infrastructure is another day Mount Vernon hemorrhages trust, tax dollars, and its democratic integrity.

The verified complaint in Gabriel Thompson v. Shawyn Patterson-Howard (Westchester Index No. 65615/2025) lays out in damning detail the illegal and unconstitutional use of public resources by the mayor, all tied back to Plummer’s influence network. Rise Up Mount Vernon is not an independent group—it is a weaponized extension of the Plummer machine

Enough is enough. I call on the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York to launch a formal RICO investigation into Kenneth Plummer, Rise Up Mount Vernon, and all contractors, developers, and public officials profiting from this criminal enterprise.

If Mount Vernon is to survive, we must excise the rot. Kenneth Plummer is a threat to every honest resident, taxpayer, and voter in this city. He is the disease. RICO is the cure.

Sincerely,

Samuel L. Rivers