STATE OFFICIAL FACING DRUG CHARGE AFTER CRACK FOUND DURING TRAFFIC STOP

ALBANY - A state official has been charged with drug possession after
a traffic stop, Albany police said.

Caroline Quartararo, executive deputy director of the state Consumer
Protection Board, was stopped after officers saw her attempt to
purchase drugs at about 7 p.m. Monday on a city street, said detective
James Miller. They found three pieces of crack cocaine, he said.

Quartararo, 45, of Albany, was charged with fifth-degree drug
possession, a felony, and loitering to buy drugs, a violation, the
Albany police spokesman said.

The felony drug charge carries a maximum penalty of up to seven years
in prison.

She was arraigned in Albany Police Court and released, a clerk said.
She is scheduled to return to court Jan. 5.

Quartararo has been suspended without pay pending disposition of the
charges, board spokesman Jon Sorensen said Tuesday.

Quartararo was appointed by Gov. George Pataki to the $100,000-a-year
job in January. She had served as communications director last year
for former Republican Assemblyman Howard Mills in his campaign to
unseat Democratic U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer.

Quartararo served as a spokeswoman for Pataki's campaign in 1994 when
he unseated Democratic Gov. Mario Cuomo. She went on to a series of
jobs in the Pataki administration before joining the Mills campaign.