Though he said that the request struck him as “inappropriate”, Dorego said he helped connect Adam Skelos with Glenwood’s contacts at the Arizona-based contractor AbTech because he wanted to stay in the senator’s good graces.
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A jury on Friday found former New York Senate leader Dean Skelos and his son guilty on all counts in their corruption trial.
The Republican was found guilty of using his office to extort about $300,000 in salary and other benefits for his son.
The four man, eight woman jury began their deliberations shortly after 12:30 Thursday afternoon, and are weighing eight charges against the father and son, including bribery, extortion and conspiracy.
The government had accused the elder Skelos of strong-arming three companies with a stake in state legislation – a major real estate developer, an environmental technology company and a medical malpractice insurer – into giving work to a son prosecutors portrayed as an underachieving only child whose sense of entitlement knew no bounds.
Jurors heard dozens of Federal Bureau of Investigation telephone wiretaps – evidence more commonly used against mobsters and drug dealers – on which father and son schemed with each other and bad-mouthed Gov. Cuomo.
The feds listened in on Adam’s calls even though he used a disposable cell phone, with prosecutor Jason Masimore noting during closing argumentsWednesday: “Who uses a burner phone but people who are committing crimes?”
The verdict comes less than two weeks after the conviction of former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and marks the end of an unprecedented year that saw both leaders of the Legislature arrested and then tossed out by their conferences.
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Skelos, 67, and his son Adam, 33, both Rockville Centre residents, were both charged with monetizing Skelos’s position as majority leader of the Senate for Adam. They also attacked his and other witnesses’ credibility by accusing them of falsely portraying themselves as victims of extortion to avoid being prosecuted themselves.
