Chris Ortloff


George C. "Chris" Ortloff is an American journalist and politician from New York.

Biography

Ortloff was born on September 20, 1947, in Lake Placid, Essex County, New York. He graduated M.A. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in 1969, and M.A. in journalism from the University of Michigan. He served two tours of duty in the Vietnam War from 1970 to 1972. Ortloff served as the Chief of Ceremonies and Awards for the Lake Placid Olympic Organizing Committee for the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. He was a news anchor for WPTZ TV from 1982 to 1986.
He entered politics as a Republican. On February 18, 1986, he was elected to the New York State Assembly, to fill the vacancy caused by the election of Andrew W. Ryan, Jr. as D.A. of Clinton County. Ortloff was re-elected many times and remained in the Assembly until 2006, sitting in the 186th, 187th, 188th, 189th, 190th, 191st, 192nd, 193rd, 194th, 195th and 196th New York State Legislatures. Afterwards he was appointed to the New York State Board of Parole.
On October 13, 2008 Ortloff was arrested on federal charges of attempting to solicit sex with minors. On December 24, 2008 he pleaded guilty to a felony charge of online enticement of minors. His sentencing was originally set for April 23, 2009., but was pushed back four times, first to August 11, 2009, then to November 9, 2009, to March 8, 2010, and finally to July 13, 2010. Ortloff surrendered to authorities to begin serving time prior to his actual sentencing. On August 9, 2010 he was finally sentenced, to 150 months
in prison, lifetime supervision, and a $50,000 fine.
As of February 2019, Ortloff is incarcerated at Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury and was released October 2019.