Dean Skelos says he will fight the charges and that he and his son will be vindicated.
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The former New York state Senate leader and his son have pleaded not guilty to the latest charges in Manhattan federal court.
Once-powerful New York state legislators Sheldon Silver and Dean Skelos will be tried on separate public corruption charges in November. On June 1, they pleaded not guilty to two counts each of conspiracy, extortion, and solicitation of bribes and gratuities.
The CEO of the unnamed medical malpractice firm was afraid that if Adam Skelos lost his job at the company he would lose access to the elder Skelos, who just ascended to the majority leader post in the chamber. Skelos and Silver, along with Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, once formed the “three men in a room” triumvirate holding sway in Albany over the budget and legislation.
A federal grand jury earlier this month returned an eight-count superseding indictment against Skelos and his son by adding two counts of corruption charges to the six they previously faced.
The executive told Dean Skelos later that day he had agreed to help Adam with a job and the father thanked him, the indictment says.
Skelos and his son declined to comment as they left court and climbed into a waiting black auto.
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Silver was arrested in January for an alleged long-running $4 million bribery and kickback scheme.
