HYNES' 80G LINKED TO KID KILLER HE GAVE DEAL
By STEFAN C. FRIEDMAN, NY POST

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Brooklyn DA Joe Hynes' campaign coffers have swelled from donors connected to the scion of a wealthy family given a sweet plea deal after mowing down two young sisters, The Post has learned.

More than 30 contributors who have given a total of some $80,000 to Hynes' re-election bid have ties to the family of Isaac Chehebar, the then-20-year-old driver who struck and killed Svetlana and Inna Shetman, ages 10 and 15, in 2001. All but two of the donations came after the tragedy.

Despite a checkered driving history  and allegations he was weaving in traffic at speeds up to 65 mph  Chehebar was offered a deal to do six months at Rikers Island by Hynes' office. He got out in four.

The Chehebars are a wealthy family with a chain of clothing stores in Brooklyn called the Rainbow Shops.

Records show Martin Stein, a vice president in the Rainbow Apparel company, gave $1,500 to Hyne's campaign on Nov. 10, 2004. Thomas Stein, who gave the same home address as Martin, donated $3,600.

The documents also show Issac Dweck, a VP at another Chehebar company, Accessory Network, gave Hynes $1,000  and that four members of the Sutton family, all of whom work for Middlegate Securities, poured a total of $7,500 into the re-election coffers. Middlegate sponsored a 2002 Basketball tournament in Deal, N.J., hosted by the Chehebar family.

All told, the DA has collected between $700,000 and $800,000 for his campaign.

Arnie Kriss, a candidate for Hynes' seat, is calling for an investigation, labeling the appearance of a quid pro quo "a disgrace."

"The plea by itself was an abuse of discretion, [and] no law-enforcement officer in this city would agree with [it]," Kriss.

"Now, with tens of thousands of dollars paid into Hynes' election committee, a full investigation as to why the plea and sentence were recommended is warranted," claims Kriss, who provided The Post with the fund-raising documents.

A Hynes spokesman dismissed Kriss' charges, saying he "is just being malicious and has resorted to lies in an attempt to bolster a floundering campaign."

"It is illogical and ridiculous to think that fund-raising, in which members of the Sephardic [Jewish] community contributed, would have any connection to a crime committed in 2001 in which jail time was sought by the DA's office," the spokesman said.

"Members of the Sephardic community have supported DA Hynes on the merit throughout his 16 years in that office. The family of the defendant, who has done jail time, simply had nothing to do with any of the fund-raising."

Benjamin Brafman, one of Chehebar's attorneys in the case, said "that disposition had absolutely nothing to do with politics . . . or a race for DA 31/2 years later. Any suggestion to the contrary is so absurd as to be offensive and insulting."

Calls to the Chehebar main office were not returned.