Now that we have a little time to breath, let me catch you up on the big news that came down today in the ongoing trials and tribulations of our corrupt elected officials in the state of New York.
When I last reported on this in May, two new high ranking state legislators had been arrested and charged with corruption - former State Speaker of the Assembly Sheldon Silver and former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos. Both trials have been ongoing since the first week of November.
The big news from yesterday is that the jury in the 5-week trial federal court trial of former Speaker Sheldon Silver came back with convictions on all 7 counts that included honest-services fraud, extortion and money-laundering for trading political favors to enrich himself and then lying about it. This is big news. Silver has been the most important Democrat in New York for the last 20 years. He is a very big fish. If you want to read the sordid details, here is a LINK
What will be interesting in the weeks to come is how this will effect Gov. Andrew Cuomo who abruptly disbanded his much-touted ethics investigative committee that caused US Attorney Preet Bharara to take over the investigation that led to Silver's conviction. [You can get the background from the link to my May 2015 post]
So, with a drumroll, here is my update of my ongoing list of elected officials who have been arrested and convicted in New York in just in the last 5 years...
2010-2015
State officials -
1. Speaker of the Assembly Sheldon Silver (D) was arrested for multiple counts of bribery and corruption January 22, 2015. Case pending. UPDATE - Sheldon Silver was convicted by a jury of his peers in a 5 week trial on all 7 counts on November 30, 2015 after 2 1/2 hours of deliberation over 3 days. He faces 130 years in jail. Appeal will be pending.
2. Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R) (and his son) was arrested for corruption on May 4, 2015. Case pending. UPDATE - trial is ongoing and should go to the jury in a matter of weeks.
3. Majority Leader of the New York State Senate Malcolm Smith (D) was found guilty in federal court of conspiracy, wire fraud, bribery and extortion for trying to bribe a Republican Party official to let him onto the Republican ballot in the 2013 New York City mayoral race. (2014)
4. State Assemblywoman Gabriela Rosa (D) sentenced to a year in jail for entering into a sham marriage in order to gain U.S. citizenship. (2014)
5. State Assemblyman William Boyland, Jr. (D) convicted of bribery (2014)
6. State Assemblyman Eric Stevenson (D) found guilty of bribery, conspiracy and other related charges. (2014)
7. State Assemblyman Nelson Castro (D) convicted of perjury (2013)
8. State Assemblyman Chris Ortloff (R) pleaded guilty to a felony charge of online enticement of minors for trying to have sex with a child after leaving his seat to become a member of the NYS Parole Board. He was sentenced to 150 months in federal prison (2010)
9. State Senator Shirley Huntley (D) convicted of mail fraud. She was sentenced to one year and a day in prison. (2013)
10. Majority Leader of the New York State Senate Pedro Espada Jr. (D) On May 14, 2012 a federal jury found Espada guilty of embezzling money from federally funded healthcare clinics, after 11 days of deliberation. (2012)
11. State Senator Vincent Leibell (R) found guilty of felony bribery, tax evasion, and obstruction of justice charges related to $43,000 in cash kickbacks he took from 2003 to 2006. (2012)
12. State Senator Nicholas Spano (R), convicted of federal income tax evasion. Spano pleaded guilty to the single felony. He was sentenced to 12 to 18 months in federal prison. (2012)
13. New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi (D), was convicted on charges surrounding a "pay to play" scheme regarding the New York State Pension Fund, and was sentenced to 1–4 years. (2011)
14. State Senator Carl Kruger (D) resigned his seat and pled guilty to charges of corruption and bribery. (2011)
15. State Senator Efrain Gonzalez Jr. (D) was convicted of fraud and embezzling $400,000 from the West Bronx Neighborhood Association Inc. and was sentenced to seven years in federal prison (2010)
15. State Health Commissioner Antonia Novello (R) pled guilty to costing the taxpayers $48,000 by making her staff carry out personal chores for her such as taking her shopping and picking up her dry cleaning. Her plea deal calls for 250 hours of community service at an Albany health clinic, $22,500 in restitution and a $5,000 fine. (2009)
Local
16. Mayor of Mount Vernon Ernie Davis (D) was convicted on federal misdemeanor tax evasion. (2014)
17. New York City Councillor Dan Halloran (R) convicted of taking bribes and orchestrating payoffs. (2014)
18. New York City Councillor Larry Seabrook (D) On February 9, 2010, a federal grand jury indicted Seabrook on 13 counts of money laundering, extortion, and fraud. Seabrook was convicted on 9 charges (2012).
19. President of the New York City council Andrew Stein (D) was convicted of tax evasion regarding a Ponzi scheme (2010).
2000-2009
State Officials
20. State Representative Anthony Seminerio (D) pled guilty to taking large sums of money from hospitals through a consulting firm while still a member of the New York State Assembly. His appeal was never heard but his conviction was abated due to death. (2009)
21. Supreme Court Justice Thomas J. Spargo (R), was convicted by a federal jury of attempted extortion and attempted soliciting of a bribe for pressuring a lawyer to give $10,000 to his defense fund. (2009)
22. State Senator Efrain Gonzalez (D) was sentenced to 84 months (7 years) in prison, followed by two years supervised release, following pleading guilty to two conspiracy counts and two wire fraud counts. (2009)
23. Majority Leader of the New York State Senate Joseph Bruno (R) was convicted on two counts of wire fraud. (2009) Update: Exonerated of all charges on appeal (2014).
24. State Representative Brian McLaughlin (D) was arrested in 2008 and sentenced to ten years in prison for racketeering.(2009)
25. State Senator Hiram Monserrate (D), convicted of one count of misdemeanor assault, and acquitted of two counts of felony assault and one other count of misdemeanor assault. (2009)
26. State Representative Gloria Davis (D) was sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years probation for bribery. (2003)
27. State Senator Guy Velella (R) was indicted for bribery and conspiracy for accepting at least $137,000 in exchange for steering public-works contracts to the paying parties.[179] He ultimately pleaded guilty to one count and received a year in jail. He served 182 days. (2002)
Local
28. New York City Councillor Miguel Martinez (D) pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy two days later. Martinez admitted to stealing $106,000 that was for children's art programs and low-income housing.[181] Martinez was convicted on three felonies, and was sentenced to five years in prison. (2009)
Any questions or comments?
When I last reported on this in May, two new high ranking state legislators had been arrested and charged with corruption - former State Speaker of the Assembly Sheldon Silver and former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos. Both trials have been ongoing since the first week of November.
The big news from yesterday is that the jury in the 5-week trial federal court trial of former Speaker Sheldon Silver came back with convictions on all 7 counts that included honest-services fraud, extortion and money-laundering for trading political favors to enrich himself and then lying about it. This is big news. Silver has been the most important Democrat in New York for the last 20 years. He is a very big fish. If you want to read the sordid details, here is a LINK
What will be interesting in the weeks to come is how this will effect Gov. Andrew Cuomo who abruptly disbanded his much-touted ethics investigative committee that caused US Attorney Preet Bharara to take over the investigation that led to Silver's conviction. [You can get the background from the link to my May 2015 post]
So, with a drumroll, here is my update of my ongoing list of elected officials who have been arrested and convicted in New York in just in the last 5 years...
2010-2015
State officials -
1. Speaker of the Assembly Sheldon Silver (D) was arrested for multiple counts of bribery and corruption January 22, 2015. Case pending. UPDATE - Sheldon Silver was convicted by a jury of his peers in a 5 week trial on all 7 counts on November 30, 2015 after 2 1/2 hours of deliberation over 3 days. He faces 130 years in jail. Appeal will be pending.
2. Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (R) (and his son) was arrested for corruption on May 4, 2015. Case pending. UPDATE - trial is ongoing and should go to the jury in a matter of weeks.
3. Majority Leader of the New York State Senate Malcolm Smith (D) was found guilty in federal court of conspiracy, wire fraud, bribery and extortion for trying to bribe a Republican Party official to let him onto the Republican ballot in the 2013 New York City mayoral race. (2014)
4. State Assemblywoman Gabriela Rosa (D) sentenced to a year in jail for entering into a sham marriage in order to gain U.S. citizenship. (2014)
5. State Assemblyman William Boyland, Jr. (D) convicted of bribery (2014)
6. State Assemblyman Eric Stevenson (D) found guilty of bribery, conspiracy and other related charges. (2014)
7. State Assemblyman Nelson Castro (D) convicted of perjury (2013)
8. State Assemblyman Chris Ortloff (R) pleaded guilty to a felony charge of online enticement of minors for trying to have sex with a child after leaving his seat to become a member of the NYS Parole Board. He was sentenced to 150 months in federal prison (2010)
9. State Senator Shirley Huntley (D) convicted of mail fraud. She was sentenced to one year and a day in prison. (2013)
10. Majority Leader of the New York State Senate Pedro Espada Jr. (D) On May 14, 2012 a federal jury found Espada guilty of embezzling money from federally funded healthcare clinics, after 11 days of deliberation. (2012)
11. State Senator Vincent Leibell (R) found guilty of felony bribery, tax evasion, and obstruction of justice charges related to $43,000 in cash kickbacks he took from 2003 to 2006. (2012)
12. State Senator Nicholas Spano (R), convicted of federal income tax evasion. Spano pleaded guilty to the single felony. He was sentenced to 12 to 18 months in federal prison. (2012)
13. New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi (D), was convicted on charges surrounding a "pay to play" scheme regarding the New York State Pension Fund, and was sentenced to 1–4 years. (2011)
14. State Senator Carl Kruger (D) resigned his seat and pled guilty to charges of corruption and bribery. (2011)
15. State Senator Efrain Gonzalez Jr. (D) was convicted of fraud and embezzling $400,000 from the West Bronx Neighborhood Association Inc. and was sentenced to seven years in federal prison (2010)
15. State Health Commissioner Antonia Novello (R) pled guilty to costing the taxpayers $48,000 by making her staff carry out personal chores for her such as taking her shopping and picking up her dry cleaning. Her plea deal calls for 250 hours of community service at an Albany health clinic, $22,500 in restitution and a $5,000 fine. (2009)
Local
16. Mayor of Mount Vernon Ernie Davis (D) was convicted on federal misdemeanor tax evasion. (2014)
17. New York City Councillor Dan Halloran (R) convicted of taking bribes and orchestrating payoffs. (2014)
18. New York City Councillor Larry Seabrook (D) On February 9, 2010, a federal grand jury indicted Seabrook on 13 counts of money laundering, extortion, and fraud. Seabrook was convicted on 9 charges (2012).
19. President of the New York City council Andrew Stein (D) was convicted of tax evasion regarding a Ponzi scheme (2010).
2000-2009
State Officials
20. State Representative Anthony Seminerio (D) pled guilty to taking large sums of money from hospitals through a consulting firm while still a member of the New York State Assembly. His appeal was never heard but his conviction was abated due to death. (2009)
21. Supreme Court Justice Thomas J. Spargo (R), was convicted by a federal jury of attempted extortion and attempted soliciting of a bribe for pressuring a lawyer to give $10,000 to his defense fund. (2009)
22. State Senator Efrain Gonzalez (D) was sentenced to 84 months (7 years) in prison, followed by two years supervised release, following pleading guilty to two conspiracy counts and two wire fraud counts. (2009)
23. Majority Leader of the New York State Senate Joseph Bruno (R) was convicted on two counts of wire fraud. (2009) Update: Exonerated of all charges on appeal (2014).
24. State Representative Brian McLaughlin (D) was arrested in 2008 and sentenced to ten years in prison for racketeering.(2009)
25. State Senator Hiram Monserrate (D), convicted of one count of misdemeanor assault, and acquitted of two counts of felony assault and one other count of misdemeanor assault. (2009)
26. State Representative Gloria Davis (D) was sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years probation for bribery. (2003)
27. State Senator Guy Velella (R) was indicted for bribery and conspiracy for accepting at least $137,000 in exchange for steering public-works contracts to the paying parties.[179] He ultimately pleaded guilty to one count and received a year in jail. He served 182 days. (2002)
Local
28. New York City Councillor Miguel Martinez (D) pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy two days later. Martinez admitted to stealing $106,000 that was for children's art programs and low-income housing.[181] Martinez was convicted on three felonies, and was sentenced to five years in prison. (2009)
Any questions or comments?
5 comments:
Woopsie, my mistake. I put the wrong time to post. it's not MY fault. This is what happens when Andrew leaves us on our own. ;-)
FYI - I realize I just pulled a "Hillary" there by admitting fault and then blaming others all in 4 short sentences...
It appears that none of these guys are very good at not getting caught. Barack needs to travel to NY and give seminars to the politicians of both parties. He has it down to a science.
Croniyism without end! Amen! Amen!
Unfortunately, this is probably only the tip of the corruption iceberg but it is a nice start.
Koshcat - They say a fish stinks from the head...Silver is the head from which the rest of the stink comes from. Though I agree the corruption runs wide and deep in NY, I hope some change comes from this. I thought Silver was a vampire that would take a wooden stake to the heart and holy water to get rid of him, BUT Preet Bharara did it without it. As he said in January "stay tuned, there is more to come". I have faith in him. And the good news is, he has set himself up to be the next Rudy Giuliani...
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