Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images Sheldon Silver exits federal court in lower Manhattan after he was sentenced to 12 years behind bars.
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Prosecutors wanted Silver, who they said “repeatedly abused that position of power and public trust during the span of more than a decade for private gain”, to face a sentence greater than any other imposed on a NY state legislator for corruption offenses.
NewsChannel 13’s Dan Levy was in New York City for the sentencing.
Former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Tuesday.
Also seated Tuesday was ex-Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky, a former federal prosecutor who won the conviction of former Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada Jr.
He was convicted a year ago in a $5 million corruption case alleging he traded favors to enrich himself and then lied about it. “I believe in this justice system and will pursue the remedies”, he said in a video posted online taken outside the courthouse. The disgraced lawmaker must report to prison by noon on July 1st.
More than 30 legislators have been forced from office for criminal or ethical issues since 2000, according to the nonprofit watchdog Citizens Union.
“I failed the people of New York”, Silver said in a letter penned to the judge. Preet Bharara’s ongoing quest to clean up a state government he has called a “cauldron of corruption”.
Silver, 72, spent two decades as speaker of the State Assembly until his arrest in January 2015. Known for his often inscrutable comments and wary, phlegmatic demeanor, Silver gained the nickname “the Sphinx”.
Silver was convicted by a jury previous year of making $5 million illegally.
She expressed the hope that Silver’s sentence would serve as a deterrent to politicians and generate a “fear of living out his golden years in an orange jumpsuit”. He helped one get a state government job, prosecutors said.
Cohen, the assistant United States attorney, said that the sentence should “send a message that this is not how business is done in Albany”.
He said, “Without question, I’ve let down my family, I’ve let down my colleagues, I’ve let down my constituents, and I am truly, truly sorry for that”.
“I think the judge said it best (when he said) Mr. Silver, those are not the actions of an honest person”, Kearns said.
Silver now has prostate cancer but it is in remission. 97 percent of New Yorkers want the governor and state Legislature to enact reform now.
In writing, Silver’s lawyers had asked for an unspecified sentence “that incorporates extensive community service”, arguing that Silver should be able to “continue to employ his unique talents to benefit others”.
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A legal cloud also hovers over Mr Cuomo’s office with a federal investigation under way into whether a former top aide and close friend, Joseph Percoco, inappropriately took pay from an outside development company involved with a state-funded revitalisation project in Buffalo while at the same time working for the campaign to re-elect Mr Cuomo in 2014.
