Shelly dies in prison

US News 

  Former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, one of the most powerful figures in state government for two decades before his conviction on corruption charges, has died in federal custody. He was 77.

Silver died Monday, the federal Bureau of Prisons said, adding that the official cause of death would be determined by the medical examiner.

Silver’s supporters had said he was in failing health from multiple medical conditions. He had been serving his sentence at the Federal Medical Center in Devens, Massachusetts, but was in a hospital in nearby Ayer, Massachusetts, at the time of his death, the bureau said.

The Manhattan Democrat, who told a judge he prayed he would not die in prison, was serving a more than six-year sentence for using his clout in state government to benefit real estate developers, who rewarded Silver by referring lucrative business to his law firm.

Silver’s conviction ended a nearly four-decade career in the Assembly. He first won a seat representing Manhattan’s Lower East Side in 1976. Although he cut a low-key figure in the halls of the state Capitol, carefully parsing out comments in a baritone mumble, he was a consummate practitioner of Albany’s inside game.

He became Assembly speaker in 1994, a powerful position that made him one of Albany's “three men in a room” negotiating annual budgets and major legislation with the governor and state Senate leader.

In all, Silver served as speaker during the tenure of five New York governors, from Mario Cuomo to Andrew Cuomo.

Moya the enabler

 

NY Daily News

 Queens Councilman Francisco Moya is one of several members of the city’s legislative body vying to become its next speaker, but his record when it comes to sexual harassment could prove to be a non-starter for some — especially given the fact that the 51-member Council will include more than 30 women lawmakers next year.

 The harassment I went through at NYCFC was so bad that now the idea of professional sports terrifies me. Staying in the field of athletics terrifies me,” the intern, Skyler Badillo, tweeted on July 17, 2020. “I thought I was getting the opportunity of a life time when I got that internship. What I got was David Villa touching me every f---ing day and my bosses thinking it was great comedic material.”

Villa, who helped Spain to its only World Cup victory in 2010 and retired in 2019, denied the accusations, saying at the time that they were “entirely false.” But without mentioning Villa by name, NYCFC later found that such conduct did, in fact, take place.

One incoming Councilwoman said his silence does not inspire confidence.

“This is part of why there’s a renewed push to have a woman — and specifically a woman of color — at the helm,” she said.

Among those Moya is facing in the Speaker’s race are Council members Adrienne Adams, Carlina Rivera, Diana Ayala, Justin Brannan and Keith Powers.

When asked about his silence on Villa, Moya claimed on Monday that he barely knew the retired striker.

“I have not spoken to David Villa in years. And I intentionally ran against convicted sexual assaulter, Hiram Monserrate, to prevent him from serving my community,” Moya said, referring to the former lawmaker who was ejected from the state Senate in 2010 after being caught on tape dragging his then-girlfriend by the hair. “This is a transparent effort to take down a Latino frontrunner for speaker. I thought that we had moved beyond this kind of despicable politics in our city.”

But, as Moya tries to court the support of fellow Council members who’ll vote to choose their next Speaker after the New Year, his record from years earlier in the state Assembly could come back to haunt him as well.

In 2013, after the state’s Joint Commission on Public Ethics found that then-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver attempted to cover up sexual harassment charges against the now-deceased and disgraced ex-Assemblyman Vito Lopez, Moya circulated a letter within the body’s powerful Black, Hispanic and Puerto Rican caucus defending Silver.

“He’s really pushed and pushed the progressive agenda when the Senate hasn’t done anything and the governor’s been silent,” Moya said at the time.

 

Hi Ho Silver

 

 

 NY Daily News

Corrupt ex-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver returned home to the Lower East Side on Tuesday, appearing frail and gray as he entered his apartment complex in a wheelchair after spending eight months and eight days in an upstate federal prison.

Silver, 77, was released by the federal Bureau of Prisons over the adamant objections of prosecutors amid claims that he is in poor health.

He arrived at his longtime home in the Hillman Housing Co-op on Grand St. at 5:10 p.m., clad in sweats and a gray baseball cap as he was pushed along a wheelchair ramp into one of the complex’s buildings.

“He needs privacy. He needs to recover health-wise,” said Rabbi Akiva Homnick, president of Pidyon Shvuyai Yisroel, a Jewish prisoner support group. Homnick spoke to Silver after his release.

Asked how Silver is doing, Homnick said: “How could one be doing when you endure solitary confinement for a good chunk of 6½ months? It was quarantine, quarantine, quarantine, imprisoned in solitary confinement.”

“He is stoked to return,” Homnick added.

Silver gets 7 years

From PIX11:

Former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has been sentenced to seven years in prison for public corruption, U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni announced Friday at a court in Manhattan.

Silver was once among Albany's most powerful Democrats until he was felled by a corruption scandal.

He was initially found guilty in 2015 of pocketing $4 million illegally by collecting fees from a cancer researcher and real estate developer.

His conviction and 12-year prison sentence were thrown out by an appeals court, but the 74-year-old fared no better at a second trial in May.

In a pre-sentence submission, Silver said he was filled with shame and feared he would die in prison.

Is the Shel game over?

From the NY Post:

The ex-speaker of the New York state Assembly Sheldon Silver was found guilty on Friday of selling his office for $4 million in kickbacks — affirming a 2015 conviction on the same charges that had been overturned on appeal.

A jury of seven women and five men found Silver, 74, guilty of all seven counts against him, including two counts of honest services mail fraud and money laundering.

He faces as much as 130 years in prison when sentenced on July 13.

Silver skates but will be retried

From NY1:

Former state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's conviction on fraud, money laundering, and extortion was overturned Thursday.

The judge used a Supreme Court precedent involving former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, which more clearly defined the kind of conduct that could be considered corrupt while in office.

"The court talks about certain acts that Silver was shown to have taken that no longer can be considered official acts, such as having a meeting," attorney Joshua Colangelo-Bryan said.

"It is not clear beyond a reasonable doubt that a rational jury would have reached the same conclusion if properly instructed, as is required by the law for the verdict to stand," Jose Cabranes of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals decision said in his decision.

In a statement, acting U.S. Attorney Joon Kim says he will re-try the case.

Real estate firm to pay fine for Skelos/Silver involvement

From the Daily News:

A real estate firm that played a key role in the corruption charges against disgraced ex-legislative leaders Sheldon Silver and Dean Skelos must pay a $200,000 fine for violating New York lobbying laws.

Glenwood Management, which is owned by political powerbroker Leonard Litwin, agreed to the fine as part of a settlement with the Joint Commission on Public Ethics.

DeBlasio uses a loophole to pay for lawyers

From the Daily News:

City politicians aren't allowed to use their campaign cash to pay lawyers representing them in criminal matters, but Mayor de Blasio has found a way around this problem.

The mayor — now facing multiple investigations of his campaign fund-raising tactics — is using an obscure loophole in campaign finance laws to pay the lawyers defending him.

He’s taking advantage of the fact that while city law mandates donations for primary and general elections can only be used for lawyers handling non-criminal matters related to a campaign, funds raised for run-off elections face no such restriction.

That’s because run-offs fall under state law, not city law, and the state allows campaign funds to pay for criminal defense lawyers. Convicted Albany leaders Sheldon Silver and Dean Skelos both took advantage of that this year.

Silver disbarred

From Politico:

Former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who was convicted on felony corruption charges last year relating to the confluence of his work as a lawyer and a lawmaker, has been disbarred.

Silver automatically lost his Assembly seat upon his conviction, and on Tuesday, a state court revoked his ability to practice law.

What idiots came up with this?

From Gotham Gazette:

As New Yorkers begin a year of many voting opportunities, there are important questions that elections will help answer - like who the next U.S. President will be and which party will control the state Senate - but also concern about voter fatigue and thus, turnout.

There will be at least four chances for New Yorkers to cast votes in 2016, with three different primary election days leading up to November’s general election. There will be a presidential primary vote in April; congressional primaries in June; and state legislative primaries in September. There will also be special elections sprinkled in to fill empty seats in the state Assembly and Senate.

On April 19, New Yorkers will vote in their party primaries for president; on June 28, it will be primaries for all 27 New York members of the House of Representatives, with Senator Chuck Schumer on the ballot, too; and on September 13, primaries for all 63 seats of the State Senate and all 150 seats of the State Assembly.

No date has been set by the governor yet for special elections in the state legislature, including those to replace former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, whose 2015 corruption convictions created vacancies.

In 2015, some New York City voters cast ballots for new district attorneys, judges, and city Council members, among others. By the time New Yorkers vote for president in November, it could be their sixth trip to the polls in 14 months.

Marge Markey sends out anti-corruption mailer

I'm not really sure why the Times Ledger felt that an article about Marge Markey's re-election fundraiser was newsworthy without at least mentioning that she has a Democratic opponent in the primary. But she would like her constituents to know that she is not corrupt, as evidenced by this mailer, the fact that she voted with Sheldon Silver something like 99% of the time and has been a Crowley clubhouse girl since 1999.

(She also doesn't represent Glendale, but don't tell the Times Ledger that.)

Has anything really changed in Albany?

From the NY Post:

Albany remains happily submerged in the same pork-and-patronage sludge-pit that led to Silver’s downfall — as everybody stands around blinking.

In other words, business as usual; Bharara best not be counting on Albany to fix itself.

Yes, he’s done yeoman’s work. But it won’t be enough.

That’s because digging out corruption while ignoring the corrupters will never be enough.

Locking up a few enablers, on the other hand, probably would help. It certainly couldn’t hurt.

Bharara has made it clear that his work is far from over. So there’s still time to broaden its scope — that is, to bust a few johns.

Here’s hoping. At this stage, the only real reform resides in fear.

Silver will still collect hefty pension

From the Daily News:

He’s likely heading to prison, but convicted former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver will still collect a hefty state pension.

He’s enrolled in the most generous pension tier system. Silver should collect $90,750 a year, which is more than most New Yorkers make in the private sector.

That’s 75% of the $121,000 a year he was making while serving as speaker.

The state cannot go after the pension of state lawmakers or workers who started before November 2011 — even if convicted of crime.

Getting Silver is gold

From the Wall Street Journal:

Sheldon Silver’s conviction Monday in one of New York’s highest-profile public-corruption cases in decades could signal a shift in the business of Albany and spark further investigations of a capital with a long-standing reputation for questionable conduct.

The Democratic speaker of the state Assembly for more than 20 years, Mr. Silver was found guilty by a 12-person federal jury in Manhattan of four counts of honest-services fraud, two counts of extortion and one count of money laundering.

At the heart of the case was the question of whether procedures and conduct that are commonplace to Albany are, in fact, a violation of the law, or whether they are simply the perhaps objectionable but also unavoidable consequence of having a part-time Legislature.

As one of Mr. Silver’s defense attorneys, Justin Shur, put it during proceedings: “Throughout this trial, the government has pointed to things that have gone on in Albany which [are] standard practices in terms of how grants are reviewed, in terms of how member items are allocated, and suggested that they’re improper.”

The jury decided those actions and others taken by Mr. Silver were illegal, bringing an end to his lengthy political career.

Albany, roiled by Mr. Silver’s arrest in January, now faces a crisis of conscience on whether and how to respond to the conviction of someone who dominated state politics as long as most legislators or anyone in New York’s political orbit can remember.

Shelly won't reveal his income

From the Daily News:

Former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is already taking the Fifth about disclosing his outside income.

In a financial disclosure statement made public late Thursday afternoon, Silver (D-Manhattan) declined to answer questions about his non-government jobs or outside salary in 2014, citing his looming corruption trial.

“Given pending proceedings in Federal Court it is inappropriate to answer this question,” Silver wrote. “However, this answer will be amended upon completion of the proceedings.”

More charges for Silver

From the Huffington Post:

U.S. prosecutors unveiled new charges against former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver on Thursday, accusing him of taking official actions on behalf of an investor who provided access to a high-return, low-risk investment vehicle.

A revised indictment issued by a Manhattan federal grand jury added four new counts to three earlier ones facing the Democratic politician, who was first hit with public corruption charges in January.

Beyond charges of honest services mail and wire fraud and extortion, the indictment says Silver engaged in monetary transactions involving crime proceeds by investing money from the scheme in a private investment vehicle.

Silver previously pleaded not guilty. His lawyers, Joel Cohen and Steven Molo, said in a joint statement that the filing was "an attempt by the government to address defects in the indictment that we raised in our motion to dismiss."

Silver, 71, was previously accused of using his position at a law firm to conceal more than $3 million earned referring asbestos sufferers to the firm from a doctor whose research received secret benefits, including $500,000 in state grants.

Prosecutors say Silver, who remains an assemblyman for Manhattan's Lower East Side after resigning as speaker, also received $700,000 by steering real estate developers with business before the legislature to another law firm.

Son-in law doesn't fall far from the tree

From CBS Local:

A son-in-law of former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was charged with defrauding investors out of $7 million in a Ponzi scheme, according to a federal complaint.

Marcello Trebitsch appeared in court in Manhattan on Monday night on one count of wire fraud and one count of securities fraud. He was released on bond. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison and a $5 million fine.

He is married to Michelle Trebitsch, Silver’s daughter. The former Democrat powerbroker stepped down from his leadership position after being indicted on corruption charges in January.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement that Marcello Trebitsch, 37, of Brooklyn, told investors he would use their money to trade in securities through his investment fund and promised them double-digit returns with low risk. But only a portion of the money was invested and Trebitsch used the remainder for his own personal benefit and to repay other investors, the complaint said.

Silver failed to disclose all his income

From the Daily News:

Already facing federal corruption charges, former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is now being fined for violating state ethics laws for not properly disclosing all his outside income.

The Joint Commission on Public Ethics — the state’s top ethics watchdog agency —notified Silver that he faces up to $120,000 in fines for filing inadequate financial disclosure statements in 2011, 2012 and 2013.

Cuomo ready to shut down the government over reform

From Capital New York:

Governor Andrew Cuomo laid out a five-point plan to combat corruption in the State Legislature during a speech Monday at New York University, promising to use his power in the state budget process to enact new reforms, even if it means shutting down the government.

“A governor’s maximum leverage, vis-a-vis the Legislature, is the budget process. In that exchange, the governor can effectively say to the Legislature, ‘Either pass my budget, or shut down the government,” Cuomo said, recalling the federal shutdown that occurred during his time working for the Clinton administration. “It was ugly, but sometimes ugly is necessary.”

The governor’s speech comes shortly after Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was arrested by federal law enforcement officials and accused of taking millions in bribes and kickbacks as part of his work with two outside law firms. U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, whose office is prosecuting the case, said he is continuing to investigate lawmakers in Albany, which he has deemed a “cauldron of corruption."

Asked after the speech if he had “any clue of what was to come regarding Sheldon Silver,” Cuomo denied any prior knowledge.

“Absolutely not,” said Cuomo, whose Moreland Commission probed legislators' finances before it was disbanded. “No one had any clue. I was totally shocked on a number of levels.”

At the heart of Cuomo’s proposals are changes he’s previously presented: the creation of more robust campaign finance restrictions, alongside a public financing system and far greater disclosure of legislators' outside income.

The governor also said he would push for a change to the state constitution that would deprive a convicted public official of a pension, end the use of campaign funds for personal use and curtail legislative “per diem” payments to cover only actual expenses.

DNC host committee hosts dirty Dem

From the NY Observer:

Leonard Litwin, whose company Glenwood Management is believed to be the unnamed Developer 1 in the complaint against Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, was on a list Mayor Bill de Blasio released today of members of his host committee seeking to bring the 2016 Democratic National Convention to New York City.

The 100-year-old Mr. Litwin—known for his massive donations to Mr. de Blasio and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, among many others—is one of 119 committee members hailing from the upper echelons of the worlds of finance, real estate, organized labor and politics. Last week, Crain’s New York noted that Glenwood Management, a luxury real estate firm, fits the description of “Developer 1″ in U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara‘s corruption complaint against Mr. Silver.

Mr. de Blasio’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. In his statement announcing the members of the host committee, Mr. de Blasio argued that his slate of organizers and fund-raisers represent a broad cross-section of New York’s best and brightest.