Judge not sympathetic toward Two-Ton Tony

From the Queens Campaigner:

After the attorney representing former state Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio argued that his client was a hardworking public servant who bent over backward for his constituents, U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald expressed reservations about the defense’s statements.

“Someone who is elected is supposed to support his constituents without being paid more than his salary,” Buchwald said.

It was a phrase Buchwald frequently repeated several times throughout the defense’s daylong arguments at the Oct. 30 pre-sentencing hearing for Seminerio, a politician from Richmond Hill who pleaded guilty in June to taking money from Jamaica Hospital administrators in exchange for lobbying state health officials on their behalf.