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Silver Guilty On All Counts; Verdict Rocks Corrupt Albany – Former Speaker Faces a Maximum of 130 Years in Prison

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Having served in the Albany legislature for 40 years, former Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver has been found guilty on all seven charges of corruption. The disgraced legislator said that he will appeal the case. After a three week trial, evidence emerged of widespread corruption such as Silver taking lucrative kickbacks and becoming immersed in influence peddling.
Sheldon Silver seen coming out of the Manhattan courtroom subsequent to the guilty verdict rendered against him.
“3 Men in a Room” style government in New York State politics were Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (left), New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, (center), and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos (right).

The corruption trial of now former Assemblyman Sheldon Silver ended with a highly expected bang on Monday, November 30, when the jury came back with guilty verdicts on all charges for the once most powerful politician in the city.

It was on the third day of deliberations, after two members of the jury separately asked the judge to be removed from the case that the Manhattan federal jury finally handed down guilty verdicts on all seven of the graft counts against Silver.

The 71-year-old Silver faces a maximum of 130 years in prison after being found guilty of honest-services fraud, extortion and money-laundering for trading political favors for personal financial gain and then lying about it.

However, under the federal sentencing guidelines, Silver is likely to get a sentence of 20 years or less in prison. While awaiting his sentencing, Silver remains free on bail. He told reporters outside the courthouse that the convictions were unwarranted and he would appeal them.

An outline of the seven counts Silver was found guilty and convicted on along with the potential prison time they carry is as follows:

Count 1: Honest-services mail fraud (asbestos scheme) Grants were steered by Silver to a Manhattan cancer doctor in exchange for patients being referred to his law firm; postal services were used to do so. Carries a possible maximum sentence of 20 years

Count 2: Honest-services wire fraud (asbestos scheme) Grants were steered by Silver to a Manhattan cancer doctor in exchange for patients being referred to his law firm; wire communications were used in the scheme. Carries a possible sentence of 20 years.

Count 3: Honest-services mail fraud (real-estate scheme) Silver received illegal kickbacks from a friend’s law firm in exchange for getting a major developer as a client; postal service were used to help carry out the scheme. Carries a possible sentence of 20 years.

Count 4: Honest-services wire fraud (real-estate scheme) Silver received illegal kickbacks from a friend’s law firm in exchange for getting a major developer as a client; wire communications were used to execute the scheme. Carries a possible sentence of 20 years.

Count 5: Extortion (asbestos scheme) Silver used the influence of his Assembly Speaker position to persuade Manhattan doctor Robert Taub to give Silver’s law firm cancer patient referrals. Carries a possible sentence of 20 years.

Count 6: Extortion (real-estate scheme) Silver used the influence of his Assembly Speaker position to to force a real-estate development company into giving his friend’s law firm its tax business. Carries a possible sentence of 20 years.

Count 7: Money Laundering- Silver tried to hide his illegal income by transferring money between different accounts in order to avoid disclosure. Carries a possible sentence of 10 years.

His sentencing will take place at a later date.

Following his arrest in January, Albany has faced a crisis of conscience on whether and how to respond to the conviction of someone who dominated state politics as long as most legislators or anyone in New York’s political orbit can remember, according to a Wall Street Journal reports.

Silver’s conviction on corruption charges signals that dramatic changes need to be made in Albany along with significant legal reforms on how legislators conduct daily personal and professional business.

Senator Liz Krueger, a Democrat from Manhattan said that the Silver verdict and also the corruption charges that Senator Dean Skelos is on trial for “have to be seen as an indictment of how the Legislature has been doing business.”

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky who at one time served as federal prosecutor said: “The bell could not be ringing louder for real reform in Albany. The Silver case highlighted in stark detail the gaps in our law and the agenda we must now undertake.”

Throughout the trial, damning evidence against Silver (who was considered one of New York State’s most influential political king makers) surfaced and revealed that the former speaker of the New York State Assembly made millions through fraudulence and corrupt tactics. During his closing arguments in the case last Monday, federal prosecutor. Andrew D. Goldstein told jurors that Silver should be sent to jail on all seven counts of corruption against him.

Hurling a litany of nefarious accusations against Silver during the three-week corruption trial that has dominated the headlines, Goldstein told jurors, “What you heard during this trial is what Sheldon Silver secretly has been doing for years: Cheating, lying and getting away with it. His services were corrupted by his greed and lies, by bribery, kickbacks and extortion.”

The government evidence against Silver included the “quid pro quo” policy that translates into Silver pulling important and powerful strings in return for hefty payments of cash. A case in point was when Goldstein told jurors of the many political favors that Silver did for people he barely knew; all in the hopes of receiving a sizable dividend. He recounted the myriad details of Silver providing $500,000 in taxpayer underwritten grants to a one Dr. Robert Taub.

Goldstein made it clear to jurors that Silver barely knew him as was evidenced by the fact that he did not even have Taub’s cell phone number. In order to reciprocate for the “favors” that Silver was doing for him, Taub referred asbestos victims seeking to file suit to Silver’s personal injury firm, known as Weitz & Luxenberg.

During the trial, the managing attorney for Weitz & Luxenberg, Gary Klein, testified that Catharine O’Leary, who passed away in 2006, was the first of the 25 to 50 mesothelioma patients that Taub testified that he sent to Silver.

Klein testified that Silver received nearly $3.4 million in exchange for referring asbestos cases to Weitz & Luxenberg. Klein also said that Silver collected an additional $804,000 by referring negligence cases.

Former Assistant Attorney General Richard Rodgers testified during the trial as well, explaining to jurors about the reforms that the then-Attorney General Andrew Cuomo instituted in 2007.

Prosecutors revealed great insight into the state finances controlled by Silver through the testimony of a relatively unknown staff member on the Assembly Ways and Means Committee who holds the title deputy budget director for budget studies. Victor E. Franco elaborated on the budgetary process during his second day of testimony, which drove home the point for prosecutors that Silver controlled it all, especially the Health Department grants, with little over sight.

In terms of laying out the specifics of the quid pro quo deal for the jury, Goldstein said, “The defendant got one hell of a quid from the asbestos scheme. The defendant gave Dr. Taub all kinds of quo.”

In the third week of the trial, a developer took the stand, and Glenwood Management lobbyist Richard Runes testified. Both claimed that they and their companies had no knowledge initially of the sideways schemes that Silver was concocting, and by the time they discovered the truth, it was too late.

“If you hold a tiger by the tail, you have a difficult choice to make: whether to let go or not. It was a difficult situation. We had the choice of terminating the relationship,” Runes said. “And thereby letting go of the tail?” prosecutor Howard Master prodded. “Yes. Or continuing the relationship,” replied Runes. “What were you concerned he could do to you if you decided to let go?” Master asked.“It’s not a good thing to alienate any legislative leader,” Runes said.

“Theoretically, the speaker could suggest or negotiate changes that would be bad for our business model.’’

$700,000 was collected by Silver in illegal kickbacks from law firm Goldberg & Iryami for steering Glenwood’s business to it, allege prosecutors. In exchange, Glenwood received favorable treatment in Albany.

Runes testified that it wasn’t until another executive from Glenwood became aware of Silver’s arrangement with Goldberg & Iryami around Christmas of 2011 that he found out.

Goldstein told jurors that Silver “hit people up using his official power. He lied and he lied, again and again, to keep anyone from learning the truth.”

Charles Bernstein

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