Former head of city's antiviolence program accused of ripping off neighborhood association

Anthony Hall, who previously headed the city's antiviolence initiative, is alleged to have stolen property from a city neighborhood association.

In an indictment unsealed Wednesday, the 38-year-old Hall is charged with a single count of grand larceny in the third degree.

The indictment alleges that Hall stole more than $3,000 worth of property from the Coalition of North East Associations, Inc. (CONEA) between Dec. 1, 2018 and Sept. 3, 2019. The statute of limitations for the alleged offense would be five years.

Hall was arrested Tuesday. The state police and district attorney's office have jointly investigated the allegations.

No further details were immediately available about the allegations. Hall was previously director of the city's antiviolence Pathways to Peace program and is well known in Rochester for his community advocacy work. He also has run unsuccessfully for City Council and the Rochester school board.

Hall earlier sued the city, alleging he was wrongly arrested i n June 2022. Records show that he and the city agreed to a dismissal of the lawsuit in June.

After leaving Pathways to Peace, Hall became executive director of the Community Resource Collaborative, an anti-poverty and youth opportunity non-profit that had just been made responsible for a $7 million federal grant.

That turned out to be a grievous mistake — CRC, under the leadership of Hall and founder Tina Paradiso, floundered in the role, failing to disburse payments to grant sub-recipients. Paradiso was fired and Hall admitted he hadn't been paying close enough attention to the finances.

CONEA would not be the first northeast Rochester non-profit to be swindled, if the charges are proven.

North East Area Development was a broad-based non-profit run by former Rochester Housing Authority Chairman George Moses. Moses is serving a six-year term in federal prison for fraud and tax crimes totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Includes reporting by Justin Murphy.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Former head of city's antiviolence program accused of ripping off neighborhood association