The Queens Courier has learned that disgraced former Assemblymember Anthony Seminerio passed away in jail on January 6.The news was confirmed by a spokesperson for the Federal Medical Center at Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina.
The 75-year-old, who previously represented the 38th District in southwest Queens for 30 years, was sentenced in February 2010 by Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald to six years in prison for defrauding the people of New York while he was a member of the State Legislature.
51 comments:
When you put 75 year old man in his physical condition in jail it's a death sentence. Why call it anything else?
The bigger they are, the harder they fall.
Tolluntur in altum ut capsu graviore ruant. - The Roman poet Claudius Claudianus, In Rufinum I.22
("Men are raised on high in order that they may fall more heavily.")
"When you put 75 year old man in his physical condition in jail it's a death sentence. Why call it anything else?"
Call it justice. That he ran his crime syndicate for so long before he was caught is not a mitigating circumstance. What would you do? Say "Have a nice life sir! Since your a senior citizen now it wouldn't be fair to punish you."
He should have thought about what he was doing, stopped doing it, turned himself in and cooperated with investigators and prosecutors. Possibly this simple formula would have resulted in house arrest or probation.
His unfortunate situation was the result of his own callous and criminal behavior.
There are various ways to punish a feeble old man well short of prison.
He was obviously not a danger to society.
The prison sentence was a death sentence. Plain and simple.
"There are various ways to punish a feeble old man well short of prison.
He was obviously not a danger to society.
The prison sentence was a death sentence. Plain and simple."
Then by your logic Madoff should be free as well?
"His unfortunate situation was the result of his own callous and criminal behavior."
Ditto.
If you know putting him in prison will cause his death then why not be honest about it and sentence him to death.
Seminario was obviously not a well man in contrast to Madoff.
Seminario had been morbidly obese for at least the past 30 years while Madoff appeared well cared for and fit for a man his age.
Prison is good for the morbidly obese.
When you put 75 year old man in his physical condition in jail it's a death sentence. Why call it anything else?
Another liberal who hasn't been mugged by reality yet.
The kind of person, upon meeting Adolph Hitler, would say:
"You know, he's not really such a bad guy!"
Boy....how great would it be if every crooked politician that was thrown in jail would then die there.
A very fitting ending for a lot of our elected officials.
R.I.P. Tony.
"If you know putting him in prison will cause his death then why not be honest about it and sentence him to death."
No one "knows" anything for certain. And the crime he committed didn't deserve the death penalty. So the trick to avoid jail is to stay unhealthy? You're argument makes no sense. If you liked the guy and have sympathy for him, fine, just say so instead making a spurious argument that he should have been sentenced to death. By the way, I kind of liked him too, but he committed a crime and has to pay just like anyone else. Period.
Tony's health problems were obvious to anyone who met him.
It is normally the case in most countries to show some leniency to the elderly in a case like this.
"It is normally the case in most countries to show some leniency to the elderly in a case like this."
Please make up your mind: should he have been put to death or shown leiency?
No one ever suggested here that he should be put to death.
I pointed out that his 6 year jail sentence was a de-facto death sentence and that it would be more honest to come out and call it that.
Here was Assemblyman Seminerio at one time on the floor of the NYS legislature wagging his finger and yelling at the then governor, Mario Cuomo - during the latter's State of the State speech - protesting not getting a raise in salary. Now imagine convict Seminerio lying on the filthy floor of a federal prison gasping for air lying next to the toilet bowl.
Right out of Beckett's Waiting for Godot.
YES! Rejoice!
Party at my house.
35-30 153rd street Apt 2B. LETS GO!
"No one ever suggested here that he should be put to death."
Someone did:
"If you know putting him in prison will cause his death then why not be honest about it and sentence him to death."
Another liberal who hasn't been mugged by reality yet.
The kind of person, upon meeting Adolph Hitler, would say:
"You know, he's not really such a bad guy!"
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Actually, Like Hitler the Conservatives are the ones who hate different people like Hispanics, Blacks, organized labor, antidiscrimination laws, etc.
I think they's like Hitler more than Liberals because of the Great White world theory.
'Here was Assemblyman Seminerio at one time on the floor of the NYS legislature wagging his finger and yelling at the then governor, Mario Cuomo - during the latter's State of the State speech - protesting not getting a raise in salary."
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He did that during Cuomo's annual speech. The funny part is the next year Cuomo gave him a box of cannolis before the speech and he was too busy stuffing his face to interupt. True Story!!!
"imagine convict Seminerio lying on the filthy floor of a federal prison gasping for air lying next to the toilet bowl."
Dear God, you people really take this punishment business seriously !!!
Goerge the atheist is a cold hearted punk
"Actually, Like Hitler the Conservatives are the ones who hate different people like Hispanics, Blacks, organized labor, antidiscrimination laws, etc."
No they don't. Conservatives just want people to take responsibility for their own actions. It's Liberals who are the haters, that's why they like the Deomocrat abortion agenda that kills minorities by the thousands. (What this has to do with Seminerio's death, I have no idea).
Tony a Democrat was Pro-Life
They are killing birds in Arkansas by the thousands !!!
I think they's like Hitler more than Liberals because of the Great White world theory.
OK dude, whatever......time for your meds!
Was seminiero a Parkside Group politician?Realizing he may very well die in prison;was he starting to talk?what was the cause of death?what did he know about Moby,&co?
These are questions that need to be answered.
All we can hope he was allowed some small comforts in his last months here on this Earth.
Maybe he was allowed to enjoy a few of his canolis from time to time.
Deke --
Who says that the guy who wrote that was a liberal? You're jumping to conclusions here.
I'm liberal and think that he got the sentence that he deserved. My only regret is that he didn't get caught earlier.
The prison sentence was a death sentence. Plain and simple.
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He should have got an actual death sentence. Prison was going soft on him.
Come on people;
He was just a fat old man who suscumbed to temptation and took some bribes, like most of them do.
He should have been put to death for that?
This world is a very corrupt place, always has been, always will be.
Tony is dead, long live Vito !
A sad way to go. god rest his soul. my condolences to his family.
it's Seminerio's family that bore the brunt of his bad behavior. That's who I feel for.
They had to see him dragged through the papers, those awful, awful photographs on many pages, witnessed Tony get convicted in court and then die in custody.
There is no joy in his death, but he chose the actions which put him in the place where that death took place.
To say that he was older than most when sent to prison and morbidly obese are reasons he should not have been there is inane. He was a system player and knew full well how to avoid a jail sentence. He chose not to.
Do the crime, do the time.
No Tony was not a parkside dem.
parkside is north queens he was from south. the parkside did not exist at tony's heyday in the 80's and 90's
While poor Tony gave in to the temptation of easy money in the end, we should remember him for all of the good things he accomplished over his decades of public service.
He among us who is without sin should cast the first stone.
"sin"
Please elaborate.
Greed and gluttony are two of the deadly sins
He wheeled and dealed from day 1 like a pol from the GW Plunkett era. He served some of his constituents not all of them, mostly he served himself.
I can't say that I'm sorry he's gone.
Some years ago I went into his office to ask for some assistance / ideas for getting the local precinct (the 102) to respond to quality of life issues (noise primarily). The SOBs in his office just laughed. This said to me that (besides being obnoxious) they knew full well of what was going on. But, since it didn't directly affect them, they simply didn't give a shit.
When Tony took office in the late 70's Richmond Hill was on it's way down. All of NYC was being stalked by murder and arson. Some neighborhoods pulled through, many others nearby did not and are slums to this day. He deserves plenty of credit fore his tireless work for his community during those dark days !
one of the many anonymous posters suggests we should remember
Seminerio for the good he did.
and what would that be? were you his secretary or had a paying job holding Tony's brief case? & I suppose your salary was the good he did the world.
I'm getting sick of all these anonymous posters.
Memo to Crappy: tell them to come up with better monikers.
oops! this is Queens County, homeland of the lumpen proletariat. they don't vote, they don't care or they vote in people like Seminerio.
Auntie invasion why are u such a pompous clown. Arrogant genius sitting behind the computer with pajamas. You are a cynic and your cynicism does not make u special. Tony did good things for many people. How many people have u helped in your life.
it's Seminerio's family that bore the brunt of his bad behavior. That's who I feel for.
God, what a wuss!
Do you lay awake at night crying for the relatives of Charles Manson and Jeffrey Dahmer?
GET A LIFE LOSER!!!!!
He among us who is without sin should cast the first stone.
.
Greed and gluttony are two of the deadly sins
You can justify a lot of things by reading old texts such as the Bible, Koran, Talmud, etc.
Have you ever read Leviticus? Would you suggest that we start stoning adulterers?
Auntie invasion why are u such a pompous clown.
Auntie Invasion must be saying all the right things!
LONG LIVE AUNTIE INVASION!!!!
Maspeth Mom says....
I hope his prison sentence and death in prison serves as a warning to others....
It was the great men and women like Tony and Rosemary R. Gunning who fought the battles that allow haters to sit home in comfort and enjoy their snow days, making snarky remarks the whole time.
get a life deke
you could not even stand in the same room with tony seminerio
u are a loser who posts blogs
tony at one time was a heavy hitter who helped lots of people
keep watching fox news and yelling at the tv set
get a life deke
I already have a one that is quite splendid, why would I need another?
you could not even stand in the same room with tony seminerio
Well, one of the posters in the comments did mention that he was morbidly obese, so that makes sense.
u are a loser who posts blogs
Which explains why you also post here!
tony at one time was a heavy hitter who helped lots of people
Again, another poster mentioned that he was morbidly obese, so saying he was a "heavy hitter" is redundant.
keep watching fox news and yelling at the tv set
I neither watch Fox News, nor do I yell at the TV set!
He has to answer to a higher power now.
It must be Semineirio's cronies who are posting here on Queens Crap about the good Tony has done. For who? when? where? and what???
come one tell us. we are waiting.
unless you e anonymous-Tony-lover had a life insurance policy on Semineiro I don't see any good except the warning to other crooked elected officials.
Sad day for NYC, sad day for Queens and for his family who have to go look at his dead body and prepare the funeral.
Sad day for Queens constituents who instead of getting help got nothing and got ripped off by yet another crappy Queens politician.
I wanna know what the grandson of Boss Tweed, James McManus, has to do with the Seminerio scandal.
Auntie Invasion is such a Loser
who sole contribution to his fellow citizens is blogging on queenscrap
when waS last time auntie stepped up to help people
put themselves out thera in any arena
never because auntie is a Loser
Who is to say the people of Richmond Hill got nothing from Tony? Have you
Is a thriving intact community for middle and working class people nothing?
What if there had been a Tony in East New York?
All those people who sold their 2 family homes for $10,000 and fled to Long Island, maybe they would not have lost their investments and community.
Sometimes one fat loudmouth who refuses to budge can inspire everyone else to stay and fight.
In Richmond Hill that loudmouth was Tony.
Shame on those who would attack a dead man whose body is not even yet buried.
One thing I've got to hand Seminerio: He was the bellwheter of the corrupt system. He indeed saw what was coming down all around him. He wanted to be a "consultant". Why not? Everyone else is a "consultant". He just wanted to get his dibbs in before the entire corrupt stinking house of cards falls.
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