Tuesday, December 1, 2015

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.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Term limits......

Anonymous said...

Silver, Skelos; but will the Feds go after Cuomo, the guy who disbanded the Moreland Commission when it began investigating his office?

Anonymous said...

Won't serve a day in jail. He is 71. Will get a sympathy pardon or some such nonsense.

Anonymous said...

A brown man gets the white man! Now the good old boys network will start to crumble....

Anonymous said...

Hope he rolls on his pals.

(sarc) said...

This is all part of the show...

Anonymous said...

lock them ALL up.

Anonymous said...

Santa came early this year.

Anonymous said...

Silver is looking at 130 yrs on all charges.
More shocking that he is surprised, he did not do anything wrong he claims.
Extortion, money laundering, mail fraud, real estate fraud is perfectly normal in his world.
The rest of the clowns should take notice, people are fed up so if you get arrested and get a jury trial your number is up.
You know who you are.

Anonymous said...

Won't serve a day in jail. He is 71. Will get a sympathy pardon or some such nonsense.

I wouldn't bet on that.

Anonymous said...

Lock him up and trow the key away.

Anonymous said...

"Won't serve a day in jail. He is 71. Will get a sympathy pardon or some such nonsense." Just like Seminerio?

Anonymous said...

Wont.
Serve.
A.
Day.
The fix is in, just like it was for 30 years.

Anonymous said...

Won't serve a day in jail. He is 71. Will get a sympathy pardon or some such nonsense.

Maybe, but I wouldn't bet on it.
He is 71 now, but his activities started when he was much younger.
People are not stupid.
Pardoning him will send the wrong message and the powers to be know that.

(sarc) said...

The pardon will come on a holiday weekend Friday afternoon.

I predict February 12th, just before Presidents' Weekend.

Schools are closed that week and many families away on vacation.

With the twenty four hour news cycle it will be quickly forgotten...

Anonymous said...

Kick him to the curb and let him rot.

Anonymous said...

WHAT ABOUT CUOMO? THIS WAS HAPPENING ON HIS WATCH WHEN HE SUDDENLY DISBANDED THE MORELAND COMMISSION. THE VOTERS DEMAND JUSTICE!

Anonymous said...

Won't serve a day in prison? Some of you people are so paranoid it's laughable. Silver was federally convicted on 7 counts, with a 130 year sentence. The only people who can pardon him is the president of the United States. He is FINISHED.

Anonymous said...

Now if he cuts a deal and rats on others .....

Camel bladder said...

It is very very unlikely that this puss bag will ever go to jail. Let's review the facts. He is 71 years old, he is allegedly a very religious Orthodox Jew and he still has Lots of friends and contacts in high places. I mean I didn't hear on the news that they siezed his passport like they would have for some street scum that was convicted of raping old ladies or shooting a cop so it is evident that he is already receiving special treatment.
Than just watch, before he is sentenced he will claim some special health issue (he is 71 you know) or his religious beliefs will be discriminated against in prison. And if all else fails he still has that passport. Watch what happens sheeple.

JQ LLC said...

On the news he wasn't even in handcuffs after the trial.

Don't be discouraged, he will rot. Or most likely might die suddenly and won't serve that long or at all like that pile of shit Ken Lay of Enron.

But lets hope he lives long enough to rat on his associates. A lot of hyper development happened in the past decade spurred by Silver shady's criminality. It's funny how every involved and profited from his shenanigans are acting like and claiming they are patsies.

In a way, Mario's Son terminating Moreland was a way of ratting out his underlings and taking heat off him.

This shit ain't over for him.

Anonymous said...

Anthony Seminirio died in prison - and he "only" stole $400,000. Silver will go to a minimum security camp and live out his days in relative comfort.

Anonymous said...

now P.B can checkout theSHADOW GOV.(D.O.E,NYC-$23BILLION budget each yearand plus of taxpayers $$$.

did you enjoy your NYC property tax increase this week for 2016 ?