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Report: NY Housing Official Resigns Over Letterhead Misuse

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- The Wall Street Journal said a top New York City housing official has resigned for using company letterhead to ask a judge for leniency for a family friend facing a long sentence.

The paper said the letter on Housing Authority letterhead from Earl Andrews Jr. was among the documents Florida federal Judge Kenneth Marra reviewed before sentencing Christopher Thornton last week to 14 years in prison.

In it, Andrews identified himself "as the vice chairman of the largest public housing agency in the United States."

Housing Authority spokeswoman Shelia Stainback told the Journal the agency bans public servants from using city letterhead for non-city purposes. The paper said it could not reach Andrews for comment.

Thornton was arrested in April for possessing images of children engaged in sexual activity.

(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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