The second of the state legislature’s two former leaders has now been convicted on multiple corruption charges, after a jury lost no time in finding former Senate Leader Dean Skelos and son Adam guilty on all eight counts.
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The verdict was read just after 2 p.m. after a little more than a day of deliberation by the jury.
On Tuesday, Senator Skelos introduced himself to U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, the man responsible for the high-profile corruption cases against Sheldon Silver, who was convicted last month, and Skelos.
“Today’s conviction of yet another elected official is not only deeply troubling, it’s extremely disappointing”, said Sen.
Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday called the Skelos guilty verdict a wakeup call for state lawmakers and local criminal defense attorney Peter Pullano couldn’t agree more.
The defense is geared up for closing arguments at the federal corruption trial of former New York Senate leader Dean Skelos and his son.
The prosecutor cited evidence that Dean Skelos, while traveling to a funeral for a slain New York City police officer in January, confronted the Nassau County executive about money the county owed to a company that hired Adam Skelos as a consultant.
Two additional charges of extortion and solicitation of bribes related to Adam Skelos’ no-show employment by a medical malpractice insurance company, a job secured at the request of his father, were added in a superseding indictment handed down in July. Gage and Adam’s lawyer, Christopher Conniff, had argued that there was no crime committed and no quid pro quo was proven.
During the Skelos’ four-week trial, prosecutors alleged that Dean turned his statehouse office into a “cash cow” to fund Adam’s lavish Long Island lifestyle, including a $675,000 house with a pool in Rockville Centre. Dean Skelos and his son on charges of extortion and bribery, state legislators who represent parts of St. Lawrence County say they are “troubled” by the violation of public trust.
Gage also claimed that Skelos had done nothing wrong merely by looking out for his son’s best interests.
In their rebuttal, prosecutors said that having a messy family life is no excuse for political corruption. Yet despite a raft of options – term limits, new caps on campaign finance, limits on lawmakers’ outside income – lawmakers have resisted calls for reforms. In the first, former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was convicted on November 30 of bribery.
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Skelos has been upbeat this week; he told reporters on Tuesday, “I feel we’re going to be exonerated”.
