Former Corzine administration official Malik Cupid pled guilty yesterday to two counts of eavesdropping, according to the district attorney of Westchester County, New York.

Cupid, who served as Gov. Corzine’s cabinet liaison and as chief of staff to Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells, was originally charged with four counts of grand larceny for assuming his ex-girlfriend’s identity and stealing $1,400 from her account while she was actively serving with the U.S. Army in Iraq. Cupid also logged on to his ex-girlfriend’s America Online account to read her emails.

The case made national headlines because of the coincidence of someone with the name Cupid being charged with scamming his girlfriend on Valentines Day.

Some critics of Gov. Jon S. Corzine have said that the injuries sustained in his April car accident have softened the public’s feelings towards him.  And at a press conference today, Corzine did not shy away from using the analogy of his own injury to defend his record. 

Corzine, who came into office on a reform platform, has faced criticism by Republicans for not doing enough to advance promised reforms in Trenton.  But Corzine countered the charges of abandoning his agenda by likening reform to the slow process of healing from his April car accident.

“I feel pretty good about where we are on those things. Do I feel satisfied?  No.  Is there a lot of work to do?  Yes,” said Corzine.  “It’s like this leg.  Every day I work on this leg to make sure that it gets stronger, more flexible and better.   But I’m not out running a 100-yard dash with it.”